Maine Minutiae: Toby Goes to School (Again)

Monkey Business in Second Grade

I am going to do something today that if you'd have told me I was going to do it a few years ago, I would have told you that you were nuts. I would have been wrong and you would not be nuts. This is momentous occasion, not only in my life, but in the life of my 8 year old daughter, Isabella. Dear Old Dad (that would be me), is going to Grant Avenue Elementary School this afternoon to read to Isabella's second grade class. For such a special event, Issy her own self, after much study and thought, has chosen for me to read Merry Christmas, Curious George. I was thinking more along the lines of a couple of articles from Bassmasters Magazine, but Issy failed to see the educational value of tying Palomar knots or working a spinner bait parallel to a weed bed. At any rate, Curious George beat out the Bassmasters. I've got to have a long talk with that kid about priorities. Sheesh.

So at 12:45pm EST, I will stand in front of Ms. Smith's second grade class and extol the virtues of Curious George and Christmas for a little while, I'll be coolest Dad in the whole dang second grade. It may not be my rendition of Merry Christmas, Curious George that wins the day with the class, but the chocolate fudge brownies I'm taking with me should earn me a couple of "cool Dad" points.

I have done this sort of thing before, many years ago when I was a radio DJ kinda guy, but oddly enough, I've never done it for one of my own kids' classes. I'm sure it'll be a load of fun.

Now, I've just got to figure out how to incorporate spinner baits and palomar knots into a story about Curious George and Christmas.

***Some names were changed to ensure privacy and safety***