At Benjamin’s school each child has a little paper ant that hangs on the wall.  When they don’t listen to the teacher or do something naughty, their ant gets turned upside down.  Apparently, Ben’s ant spends a lot of time on his head…He’s a good kid, but he tends to talk a lot more than he listens (he has a lot to say and is stubborn about making sure he gets his thoughts out).  We’ve started working with his teacher and trying to get him to be a better listener and he gives us updates on his ant each day.

On Thursday, he had his ant turned upside down for the first time in a while.  On Friday, he told us that his ant was turned right side up, but that he almost got in trouble.  When we asked why, he said, “I started to make some noises, but then I started to sing Silent Night in my brain.”

A long pause followed.

“Mommy and Daddy, why are you laughing so much?”

(His poor teacher.)