So Young Now...

BUBBLING BROOK
Max had a Thanksgiving Feast at preschool yesterday. The children dressed up as Indians---they had upside down brown paper bags on their bodies with cut-outs for head and arms. They had feathered headpieces (paper feathers!) on their heads, and they wore necklaces of painted and strung-up macaroni products. I could tell immediately upon entry into the classroom that Max was not comfortable in his costume...the paper bag was a little too small. The room was a little too crowded, we waited a little too long for the "tardy parents" to arrive, and the kids were all getting a little rammy. Max was also a little tired from not getting enough sleep over the weekend. This is me giving a number of excuses to justify in my own head the "heckling" behavior that I witnessed in Max during his feast! But really, I don't know whether he was just trying to be the class clown, or whether he was tired, or whether this is a new Max that I don't see at home. He is a really good and respectful boy usually.
As the teacher was welcoming all the parents and explaining the first song they were going to sing about how the Pilgrims came over, there was a lone voice from the 3 rows of (20) children: WHY DON'T WE JUST SING THE SONG! Laughter from the parents. It was funny until I realized it was Max. Of course, I pretended to look around like the rest of the parents, trying to figure out from which child the voice came. I was a little embarrassed inside, but the teacher made a joke of it and moved right into the song. Moment over.
After the kids finished all of their songs, there was again some silence then: CAN I GET OUT OF THIS COSTUME NOW?? (with some urgency!) Again from Max. As I was laughing with one of my friends, another one came over and said that they thought Max said "Can I get naked now" and he certainly might have said that, but no one is sure because the laughter was pretty loud by this point. The teacher explained to Max that they couldn't yet take off their Indian gear because they had to come up one by one and the teacher was going to intrduce them to their parents by their Indian name. Again loudly: MY MOM ALREADY KNOWS MY NAME! Certainly by this point everyone knew that it was Max doing the commentary, and also by this point, everyone had singled me out as the mom of the boy doing the commentary, despite (or maybe because of) my practically hiding under the "feast" table. (Doesn't he look a little smug in this pic as he stares at my camera??? Was he just going for the joke??)The rest of the presentation went without incident, and Max was introduced as "Bubbling Brook."



We feasted on popcorn, grapes, apples and celery. I couldn't get an honest answer out of Max about why he did what he did. He certainly made everyone laugh, but in my opinion it was bordering on disrespectful, and I am hoping that I don't see that again....