Sweet Treats and Booboos

I guess our friend PJ calls Sweet Dreams (the best homemade ice cream place in Gville) "sweet treats." I didn't know this. So after having fajitas with the Allens and the McCreadys, it took me a second to realize what Jon was talking about when he started chanting "sweet treats." My inner love for ice cream must have been calling out to me though, because I quickly caught on and joined in. I love that place. I had a double dipper with two flavors: toasted coconut rum and Bailey's Irish cream (about the only alcohol I've had in the past 6 months). Mmmm, just thinking about it tastes good. I also love Sweet Dreams because of the family that owns it. I remember when we lived in the Yellow House on 36th Drive and the boys lived 3 houses down and we would walk there. That's when we first met Mr. Sweet Dreams. Turns out he's a Tshirt collector and really liked one of the guys' shirts. We earned big points with him the next time we went and brought him one of the same shirts. Ever since, we've had friends that have worked there, seen the Sweet Dreams family out and about, but most of all, are frequent customers. Little Sweet Dreams actually goes to the school I work at. He is a giggly, adventurous ball of energy. He always grins and waves to me because I always ask him stupid questions like what his favorite kind of ice cream is. Like he doesn't hear that all the time-jeez, I guess I need new material. Anyway, it is so cool to see how Mr. and Mrs. Sweet Dreams are involved in the school. Its not the "best" school in town, but Little Sweet Dreams is thriving there, and the whole family is doing all they can to make it the best school for them. They are the new presidents of PTA this year and I'm looking forward to many an ice cream fundraiser. When Mrs. Sweet Dreams comes to the school everyday at 3:00 I feel like I am seeing a friend just because that family is so dang nice. She told me that all the noise and chaos that happens at EDEP is probably helping prepare Carver to calm himself in any situation. EDEP is the Extended Day Enrichment Program, the after-school program that I work for. If EDEP couldn't prepare him, I don't know what could, cause that place is crazy.

My funniest stories of the day come from those 4 hours I spend with K-5th graders after school. Like the girl who told me the doctor "diagnosed her as deaf...either for the next 25 days, the next 25 years, or just until November." Or like today when a boy asked me if he could go to the bathroom. I've learned, very quickly, that the automatic answer to this question is "yes." But he didn't like that answer. "I have to go booboo and there spiders in there." In case you didn't know, in some cultures booboo=poop. I have found that this is especially predominant in African-American kindergartners. They just say it and expect you to know what they mean. Which I do. So I told him, "Ok, why don't you use the other bathroom." "Well, I have to booboo and there spiders in there too." My most popular two responses on the playground usually occur like this:
Kid: "Joey won't play with me, he's too busy digging worms and putting them in Jaden's socks."
Me: "I'm sorry, I guess you should go find someone else to play with."
or
Kid: "There's fill in the blank in my eye."
Me: "Blink!"
I was really at a loss of words for the booboo situation. I figured he would either hold it or have to go so bad he would face his fears. Not to leave you on the edge of your seat, but I don't really know if he ever encountered the spiders or not, because 3 hours later I found him face down in the sand on the playground looking pretty distraught. I said "Kid, what's wrong?" "I have to booboo and there spiders in the bathroom."

PS-"fajita" is totally usable in Scrabble, just in case you ever want to use it and your husband tells you it doesn't count