Quiet, from Texas

He just gets funnier. The letter of the week is “Q” this week. The Beginners are supposed to bring in an item that starts with the letter of the week. So for “F” Whit brought in a toy firetruck. For “H” he brought in his “handcuffs” (two glow-in-the-dark bracelets linked together, don’t ask, he came up with that all by himself).

For “I” I sent him in with ice cubes in a ziploc. I thought that was funny since the things get tacked onto a board where they stay all week. All week the forlorn bag of water in a ziploc dangled there.

Whit’s not a regular letter-of-the-week contributor, probably reflecting my laissez-faire attitude about this exercise (ok, fine, all things) with him. Poor second child. Anyway. This morning we debated what to bring in for Q. He came up with quilt. No quilts around here. Grace was thinking too, to no avail. Then Whit’s eyes lit up and he looked at me mischievously.

“I know.”

“What, Whit?”

“I’ll be quiet when I get to school. They will ask why I am not talking.”

“They will?” he looked at me with that withering, are-you-not-paying-attention stare that both kids seem to have perfected.

“Yes. And then I will tell them, I brought quiet for the letter of the day.”

I laughed, and said under my breath, “God, Whit, where did you come from?”

“Texas,” I heard him say, totally deadpan. What?
Also worth noting is Grace’s doodle from the other day – “Whit, a screaming monster.” I particularly like the hairy and detailed nostrils.

N.B.: (I think nota bene needs to be brought back): Screaming implies not quiet. Perhaps this helps explain the humor of Whit’s idea.