V8 and Holiday Sweaters

Have you seen the V8 commercial where this guy orders a hamburger with extra bacon and no lettuce or tomato - just to be hit smack dab in the middle of the forehead by the woman working the drive through window? The narrator then says, "You could of had a V8." I usually have to chuckle when I see that commercial. I often find myself in my job as a teacher wanting to give my students a similar forehead smack for the dumb things they say.

Me: Why don't you have any of your stuff?
Student: I forgot my backpack in my car.

I mean, seriously. FOR REAL. How can you forget your backpack in your car...Didn't you notice you felt a little lighter on your feet walking into the building?

Me: Why don't you have any of your stuff for class? (notice a theme here?)
Student: I let some kid use my backpack and he stole it.

Oh My Word.

Student: Do you want us to do this in SPANISH?
Me: You can do it in French or Japanese if you prefer.

Yeah...Spanish...cuz we're in SPANISH class.

Student: I was absent yesterday. Did we do anything?
Me: No. I saw you were gone so we sat and did nothing for an hour and a half.

I mean, come on. Do they hear the words that come out of their mouths? Did we do ANYTHING? They can't possibly think they didn't miss anything, can they???

I have to share this story... About two weeks ago we had a spirit day at school and students and teachers were supposed to wear tacky holiday sweaters. I didn't have one to wear - because amazingly after four years of teaching I still haven't succumbed to "teacher clothes". I thought of borrowing one from my mom - but I hope that over the years I've made clear that holiday sweaters with snowmen and trees and fuzzy balls aren't fashionable. Stacy and Clinton (fashion gurus from What Not to Wear) have said it MANY MANY times. I have a student - she is just about the sweetest girl - I love her to pieces and she said, "Señora, I have this teacher and she had on a sweater today. I, like, totally wanted to tell her that I liked her ugly sweater. But then I didn't know if it was on purpose. It's, like, totally the kind of thing she would wear on a normal day. I didn't want to tell her I liked her ugly sweater if she didn't mean for it to be ugly." Oh, bless her sweet heart. I told her she made the write choice. When she told me what teacher it was...I emphatically agreed that she had made the right choice.

Ah - ya gotta love 'em.