The joys of aging in a digital age
The son flopped on the bed, and gave me a commiserating look. I had a harried look on my face. I had just come back from university after a full day of teaching, and was surrounded by my course materials, some student books for grading, and looked like a demented owl looking for her sunglasses.
“Looking for your glasses or phone?” He said astutely, and I felt a little laugh gurgled up at that. He was right – I was always looking for one or the other. Talk about the joys of aging in a digital age.
Read Something?
“Well – Amma. How about I read you something while you look for whatever it is this time?”
I mumbled and groaned at the same time. “I would love that, but don’t you have work to do?” I asked him. It was 10 p.m. on a week-day night and most nights, he is busier than I am. High schoolers.
“I do….but let’s do this.”, he said, and picked up the book, My School Stinks.
I rolled at my eyes at his choice of book. I had picked it up from the library earlier that week, but still.
My School Stinks – Words by Becky Scharnhorst Illustrated by Julia Patton
It is truly a remarkable book. I love how children always astonish have the ability to take something that unreal, know it as preposterous and go ahead to enjoy the nonsensical whimsical tales anyway.
It starts off with
My desk mate STINKS, my locker buddy bites, and my teacher is UNBEARABLE.
I told Mom my classmates are WIL ANIMALS, but she said ALL little kids are wild animals. I think I’m going to be sick tomorrow.
The book carries on this vein, slowly turning our expectations and sentiments towards friendship on its axis, rotating it, reflecting it, and giving us a hilarious experience anyway. It turns out the boy was right – the school was full of wild animals – real animals and the family just drops him off and picks him up everyday without realizing that their son’s best friend could be a crocodile.
Well ?
The son & I cackled at the book, and I asked him. “Well – any wild animals in your school, my man?” And he responded with dead pan humor, “Of course!”
Then he went on to relate a totally hilarious and grossly exaggerated tale of the red hawk that made its home in the rafters of the school one time, and all the drama that ensued.
I told him about the time some child tried to flush a tree branch down the toilet and we each went back to our respective tasks with a smile on our faces.