(Part of the Ebola Mom series)
Aaaaaand there it is.

“Oh my gosh, really?! For ME? Thank you! That is SO nice! I love it so much! You are such a nice person!”
— Kid, when I handed him this eraser as a “first day of tutoring” gift.

You’re welcome.
Also can I adopt you?
“Oh my god oh my god oh my god!!! All your dreams really CAN come true!”
— My 11-year-old tutoring client, just now, upon seeing my engagement ring.

“No way, you’ll be fine– I mean come on, this is your new coworker!”
— Eric, easing my concerns about essentially working from home now, and the possible isolation I might feel.

P.S. That’s HIS Peruvian llama. Not mine.
Me: (explaining a math problem)
Kid: “Ooooh, so I get it! It’s like the computer prompt, with tea.”
Me: “I’m sorry….what?”
Kid: “You know. Like…the computer prompt WITH TEA.”
Me: “Yeah I don’t understand what’s happening. Can you explain?”
Kid: “You don’t know about the computer prompt with tea? My teacher taught me! Like, you know…if 2 + 3= 5, then 3 + 2 = 5, because it’s the computer prompt…with tea.”
Me: “Oh my gosh– the COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY?!”
Kid: “Yeah that’s what I said. COMPUTER….PROMPT…..WITH…..TEA!”
Me: “You’re actually saying something completely different, but you have the concept so I don’t even care.”
Kid: “It sounds exactly the same to me!”
Me: “Alright well….agree to disagree?”
Kid: “Ok.”
Me: “We will get back to this though. I’m not going to let you become an adult who mispronounces this.”
Kid: “What does ‘mispropounces’ mean?”
Me: “Forget it. Back to numbers. Language is obviously not working out for us today.”
Kid: “How come you never wear your hair down?”
Me (tired of getting this question from kids, and deciding to just be honest): “Because I am a very sweaty person, and it’s hot out, and if my hair is down, I feel even hotter and sweatier.”
Kid: “But you didn’t wear it down in winter either.”
Me: “Right, well. Like I said. I’m a very sweaty person.”
Kid: “Even if it’s not hot?”
Me: “Yes.”
Kid: “That makes no sense. You can’t sweat if you’re not hot.”
Me: “Not true. There is a feeling you can have, and it makes you sweat even if the temperature isn’t hot. It’s called anxiety.”
Kid: “I’ve heard of that. It’s when you have panic like there’s an emergency, but there’s not an emergency. The emergency is only in your head.”
Me: “That’s actually a beautiful, astoundingly mature explanation.”
Kid: “Thanks.”
(pause)
Kid: “Oh, I know! It’s like having to poop real bad and thinking there’s no toilet, but there really IS a toilet, you just don’t see it because a big tree or, like, something, is blocking it, but if you could just, like, turn your head or chop down the tree you’ll see the toilet and it’ll be fine. You really can poop after all! Like, not in your pants or anything!”
Yeah maybe quit while you’re ahead.

Me: (after listing all the ingredients I’d like in my salad) “And then I’ll also have some avocado, chopped up in the salad please.”
Guy: “Do you want just the avocado chopped, or the whole salad chopped?”
Me: “The whole salad. With the avocado in it.”
Guy: (blank stare)
Me: “Like…put the avocado in first, then chop the whole salad up. Together. With the avocado in it.”
Guy: “Ahhhh got it, got it, got it.
(I walk away to pick up some protein bars, then return)
Guy: “Here ya go– one salad, chopped up with avocado!”

This is literally why I quit teaching.
Just ran into a kid I used to tutor.
Kid: “Are you married?”
Me: “No.”
Kid (yelling across the store): “MOMMMMMMMM! STILL NO!”
