More Funny School Moments

An Excerpt from They Call Me Mom

At times, kids create humor without intending to.  I wish that I had a dollar for every time that I was called “Mom” by one of my students.  That is something that happened every year, especially with the younger children.  It was always said unintentionally.  Most times, the student would sheepishly laugh, realizing it sounded funny to be calling the teacher, “Mom.” 

Instead of being somehow offended, I took this as a wonderful compliment.  The idea that a teacher was like a mom to a child was a very nice comparison, even if said by accident.

However, I could not account for why they called me “Mom” more than they called me “Dad.”  I’ll leave it to someone else to figure that one out.  I was even called “Grandma” by one of my students.  (I was about thirty-years-old at the time.)  I remember telling my student in a joking manner, “If I look like your grandma, then one of us (Grandma or me) has a problem.”

Then there were the most memorable excuses that my 5^th and 6^th-grade students gave me for not having their homework:

#5 “Somebody broke into my dad’s car last night and stole my backpack.”  (Math papers are a hot item with thieves these days.)

#4 “My mom forgot to make me do it.”  (She’s been falling down on the job lately.)

#3 “My parents made me go to the movies with them, so I didn’t have time.” (Why didn’t they make me?  I would have liked a night off too.)

#2 “My parents don’t allow us to do homework on ‘Family Game Night.’”  (Good to know that they’ve got their priorities in order.)

#1 “I thought you were kidding.”  (Yes, this sounds exactly like the kind of thing I’d joke about.)