Power Plants Grow on Volcanos

We have a phone that announces who is calling when it rings...well, I should say "attempts" to announce. You see, it has a hard time with pronunciations of things such as, oh, SLPK Schools. You see, there are no vowels in SLPK and, well, it's really not a word. So, when the phone rang and I didn't recognize the gibberish coming out of the machine, I didn't rush to check the caller ID.

Shit! It's the school!

I answered too late and wound up running through the house to get to the answering machine, all the while apologizing to whoever was on the other side. I had no idea who it was with all the feedback screeching in my, and presumably the caller's, ear.

So, as I'm running, all the scenarios ran through my head:

1. It's the nurse's office. There's been a terrible accident.
2. It's the school office. Henry missed the bus and he's bawling his eyes out and afraid he's in trouble.
3. It's his teacher. There have been some behavioral issues.

"Hi! I just wanted to call you and let you know that I think Henry is an amazing reader." I recognize the super kid-friendly voice as Henry's teacher.

"Oh! This is Mr. B!"

"Sorry, yes. I'm so impressed with Henry's reading. He must read a lot at home."

I laugh. "He'd read all day if we let him."

"You can tell - he's doing great! He is definitely wiggly. He probably thinks I ride him too hard about that, but I know his potential."

I laugh again. "Yeah, he likes to move."

It turned out he had a little breakdown this afternoon and Mr. B hadn't seen that side of him before and I think he wanted to call to see if maybe he didn't get much sleep last night. No, he got the same amount of sleep as usual. He then continued to rant and rave about how well Henry reads and then told me about something he did that cracked Mr. B up so much that he had to tell Henry's kindergarten teacher. Henry was sitting near the wall reading and wound up doing a push up with his upper body while walking his feet up the wall. The part Mr. B liked was that, with all the moving the rest of his body was doing, his eyes never left his book. He said he had to let him do it for a little bit because he found it so funny, but then reminded him that it wasn't appropriate.

All in all, not a bad first call of the year from the school.

Actually, Henry has grown up quite a bit since this time last year. Everything about him is more grown up and it makes me laugh most of the time. He's also gotten to be quite the story teller. We heard Mr. B was known for bringing in some pretty cool things, but you wouldn't believe what we've heard.

• Mr. B brought in a "power plant". I decided that, after a drawn out description, it must be one of those lightning balls. I'm thinking, cool! Then he tells me that Mr. B told them where the power plants grow - on volcanoes - that's where Mr. B picked his.
• Mr. B brought in a lizard that turned blue. Then he turned green. A chameleon? This is the only story I haven't been able to debunk.
• Mr. B brought in his dog. The dog has the same name as Mr. B. Really? And he was there all day, eh?

I can't wait for conferences LOL!