Homer

Yesterday, I picked Cole up from school, and he had gotten a prize from the treasure chest. It's their reward system--the kids get stamps for good behavior in a bunch of different areas, and if they fill up a chart, they get to pick something from the chest. Of course, it's just a box of junk, but Cole goes crazy for his prizes. He usually chooses a plastic ring (he likes to feel "fancy") but last night he got a weird Mulan figurine that looked like a McDonald's toy from whenever that movie came out. 1992, maybe?

Aaaaanyway, he was playing with it at the table, when suddenly he looked up.

"Actually, today I cried at school," he said, matter-of-factly. (Actually is his new thing.)

"Oh," I said, somewhat surprised. "Why did you cry?"

He paused.

"Um, because Teacher Brooke said I was a charac-ter in the Simpsons." (The word "character" took quite a while for him to puzzle out.)

"So," he continued, "I cried."

I was confused for a second, then realized where this was likely coming from.

"A Simpson?"

"Yeah, because I said 'd’oh.'"

Ah, yes. The "d'oh!" It's been going on for months--surprised it's taken her so long to comment on it. But Cole gets really really sensitive if he thinks someone is making fun of him. He once burst into tears when Josh said, "I'll bet you mom is home" because Cole thought "bet" was something mean.

Anyway, this, verbatim, is how he finished his story.

"And then we went outside and she put me in with the dancing and running but I still cried and then she picked me up and said deep breath. And then I took a deep breath and I stopped crying. But I was still sad."

Here's a quick snippet from later that night. His nonsense songs just go on and on and on and on and on....