Thurday 13, the Strange and Stranger Edition

Challenge for today: find 13 things in my day that are strange or involve strangers. Mission possible, for sure.

1. Strange, indeed, to be posting the Thursday 13 on a Friday, but that's how things go around this place.
2. Strange technology- my phone will no longer accept calls from my dear friend. Only her. She's the only one it's discriminating against, but I swear, I can be holding it in my hand, and it won't ring when she calls- just goes straight to voicemail.
   
3. My Small came home with a hat today, when she did not wear one to school. When I asked her whose hat it was she said "Mine!". Obviously, I pressed further, reminding her that she does not own a hat like that. "It must belong to one of my friends, then!" Ahh, now we're getting somewhere! I checked the label, which read "Bartlett". I don't know any children named Bartlett, or even with the last name of Bartlett, but since so many of us shop consignment and share hand-me-downs, I didn't find it odd. I did say "Bartlett" out loud, though, to which Small One replied "Oh, yeah, it's Bartlett's hat!" Really? Bartlett's hat? Who is Bartlett, exactly? "My friend, Mommy! My friend named Bartlett, you silly guy!" Ahh...
4. From the "strangers are friends we haven't met" department: There's a new lady working at the bank- or, at least, new to the floor. She typically works in the offices downstairs. Small One is the belle of the bank, in case you're wondering, but she had never met the lady before yesterday. As we were leaving the bank yesterday, she gave her a hug and kiss goodbye, and today spent much of our visit deep in conversation with her.
   
5. More bank strangeness... when I went to make my deposit, one of Small's well-loved bank friends pulled her across the counter and let her work the drive-through for awhile. Anyone banking at our local bank today who was greeted by a 3 year old voice introducing herself... yeah, that was mine.
6. Pharmacy strange- called in a prescription ahead of time, and when I went to pick it up, it wasn't ready. It was an easy prescription, they filled it in 2 minutes, but the pharmacist told me, as she was filling it, that if I want it filled quickly, I should not call it in in advance, but just bring it to her. Come again?
   
7. Fun strange- listening to my 10 year old students (boys) relate their theories on science fiction. Sometimes I love teaching. Today, too, I taught them the word "speculate", and we discussed its various conjugations... by the end of class, they were trying to work the word into casual conversation. "So if we're speculating on what you want from the homework assignment..."
8. Texty strange- Trying to choose a deodorant for Middle Child, I texted her the following message: "Sure pain, or sure clean demenscou?" Yeah, these are the perils of not checking your t9 before you hit the send button.
9. Tiresome strange- my Small, who is an excellent sleeper, woke up at 11:00 tonight FREAKING out, and insisted she needed to come and lie on top of me until she fell asleep. Getting her back into her bed was a bizarre ordeal.
10. In the process of the above ordeal, we said "Did you have a nightmare?" and when she answered in the affirmative, we asked her what it was about, to which she sobbed "NOTHING!" Alrighty, then.
    
11. Good strange: when I finally got her down again, after much weeping and wailing (on her part) and gnashing of teeth (on my part), she said "I'm sorry! Goodnight!" I've never been apologized to before by a child who is upset about sleeping, so that was a peculiarly nice shift.
12. Sad strange: a ghost from my past keeps trying to friend me on facebook. Everyone we mutually know is EMPHATIC that I shall not allow this to come to pass, and the notes from the wannabe friender are growing increasingly sad. It's so strange for me, not caving.
13. Strange creature- this child, who gave up on getting her own clothes on at this stage of the game, with an air of resigning herself to her fate:

Most peculiar, Mama

So this month's theme, according to NaBloPoMo, is "strange(r)". In other words, if I were planning to blog every day of the month (clearly I'm not, as I've already blown it), and I were struggling for a topic, I could write on strange things or strangers. ("There you go,"says NaBloPoMo, "talk amongst yourselves.")

I thought about strange things and strangers last night. I thought about my little brother, as a preschooler, when my mother told him not to talk to strangers, going down the entire line at the bank, yelling "Is THIS guy a stranger, Mom?"

I thought about my Oldest, when he was about the age of my Small One, being offended that I didn't introduce him to someone in the store, and scoffing at the idea that I didn't know the man. "Yes, you do, Mom! You know EVERYONE!" I guess, in his limited experience, I did.

But then, tonight, I came across something I would consider truly strange. It's a Snoopy Pendant, from the Danbury Mint. For only $117, you too can own a 1 inch pendant of Snoopy, all bright and sparkly with Swarovski crystals! The Man tells me he can think of no better use for $117. (I think he's being sarcastic.)

The best part of the ad, in my humble opinion, is that it touts Snoopy as "America's favorite cartoon beagle". Really? Not America's favorite beagle, certainly, or even America's favorite cartoon dog, but America's favorite cartoon beagle. This begs the question, exactly how hard do you have to work to be America's favorite cartoon beagle? How many of them are there, out there vying for the title of "favorite"?

I'm going to start calling myself "America's favorite mom who lives in this house". Yeah, me!