Cute idea in theory.
Here's the problem: the jar of stuff is usually as big as a canning jar.
16 oz at MAX.
Grant's guesses are numbers like "3 million" or "a trilllion-billion" or "to-infinity-and-beyond"
Gwen's are more like "One" or "Two"
It's one guess per family, so I take turns with the absurd guesses each month
Sigh..and then stuff the box with my (i mean, THEIR) for-sure-we-are-not-winning ticket.
This month, it was Gwen's turn.
We walk up to the table in the lobby and observe the cute little jar of green Christmas candies .
Me to Butter: "Gwen how many candies are in the jar?"
Gwen to me: "3"
Me to Gwen: "Gwennie, there are FOR SURE more than 3 candies in the jar. Look, you can count up to 10 AT LEAST and there probably is more than that!
Gwen to me in stern 2-year-old-I-am-not-wrong-ever-voice: "No, there's THREE mom!!!"
Side note: when did my adorable little girl decide to switch from calling me mommy or mama to MOM??!!
Sigh. Another month with a loser ticket.
Good thing I'm not competitive.
I begin to fill out the ticket "Gwen Gaylord,.... Room 6C.... Guess: 3.....but then...
.....Light bulb moment:
Perhaps it was the extra shot of espresso that morning? Perhaps it was because no one was looking?
No matter, it was brilliant....who would know? I mean, NO ONE heard her guess "3"....
So I did it.
Go ahead, judge me.
I slyly add a "4" before the 3 and quickly fold the ticket and stuffed it in the box...and quickly exited the lobby..with the ever so slightest Catholic guilt creeping into my system.
Fast forward to last night. As I walk into school to pick up the kids, Ms. Secretary says to me: "I think you should check the gift box over there...that's right, the BIG one"
She continues on "Gwen guessed EXACTLY how many candies were in the jar....43 precisely!"
Me to Ms. Secretary: "NO WAY!"
Cheeks.Turning.Red.
Feeling.ALMOST.guilty.
I rush back to Gwen's classroom and I tell her, the rest of the two year olds and her teachers... "Gwennie, you've won the gift basket! You guessed the right number of candies...FORTY-THREE!!
Gwen to me: "NO MOM, THERE IS THREE IN THE JAR."
Me to no one in particular but to everyone around me: "ah-ha ha, that's funny sweetie, you just don't remember guessing 43...it was a long time ago"
And we hurried back to the lobby to collect HER winnings:
I have this thing with the number 43.
I don't know what it is, but I always just notice it.
I'm not saying it's a "lucky" number, It just appears in my surroundings significantly more than other numbers.
Example 1: I'll be "watching football" with Brent (in truth, I have a million-and-one better things to do than sit on the couch and watch overpaid lugs smash into each other and increase their likelihood for premature neurological damage) but on the 43 seconds I focus my eyes on the TV, I"ll notice the number 43 on someone's jersey.
Example 2: Looking in my inbox and I have 43 new messages. Happens often. I sometimes wonder if my inbox is set to only allowing 43 messages at a time.....I've checked. It's not.
Example 3: Shopping at Trader Joes: Mr. Hippie Check-out-kid: to me: "Your total is "$43.43.
Me to Hippie Check-out kid: "That is SO strange"....
..and these are just a few of examples...there's more...in fact, I think there's 43 of them.
As I sip on my coffee out of the new coffee mug from the basket GWEN won , I contemplate Lessons Learned:
1) Pay attention to your surroundings, you never know what signs are out there!
2) Secretly helping your kids out is TOTALLY worth it.
3) I'm playing the lotto this week. 43 times with the number 43 chosen on each line.
OMG LAST MINUTE UPDATE: I go to the next door office and ask the professor, (who was on jury duty) if he was selected to serve... You want to know what he said? and I quote "I was number 43 and they went to 42".
WTF is up with 43?!?!?!?!?
Such a cute story Michelle! I smiled and laughed the whole way through:) Cute blog! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
ReplyDeleteJen