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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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Remember those days from childhood when you didn’t know where you fit in?
You had to belong somewhere, but where? Maybe you were smart, but not brainy smart. No room in that group. You played sports, but weren’t among the elite. Scratch that.
Ever since my oldest son was five he wanted to be the class clown. He was crazy for the job. His climb to the top includes horrible stories like the one from Kindergarten where he pulled his pants down (just to his red briefs) to do a little dance so the kids who were sad recess was over would be happy again. (That visit to the principal was interesting – for both of us. Did I mention it was a Catholic school?)
For a few years now, he’s had the title. My son, the ever-crazy Class Clown. He made the essays he had to read out loud really funny. He created a nickname for himself and spread it around. He even bought Jay Leno’s “How to be the Funniest Person in the World (or at least in your class)” through a monthly book order.
More than once I’ve heard girls giggle and tell him, “You’re so funny.”
Fifth grade’s been different, though.Oh so much harder. On the second day of school he conceded to losing the title. Another kid was making everyone laugh and he just didn’t understand why.
And the other day, when I called from work for a 4 p.m. school update, he had another concession: “I’m losing my funny, my schtick from last year.”
He was crushed. He said he’d asked some other kids if it were true, if they saw the very thing he feared most. That he’d lost his funny. “They said yes,” he said in a flat, disappointing tone.
When I got off the phone I just laughed and laughed. To me, he still had his funny.
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