Weezy

It's that time of year. The time when the weather starts slowly changing. Unexpected rain and temperatures in the 60's ninja their way into the forecast. Cardigans become a wardrobe staple. Pumpkin Spice Latte season. Fall.

Along with Fall, unfortunately, comes allergies for some of us. I'm steadily losing the ability to breath through my nose and beginning to punctuate sentences with sneezes and sniffles. One morning last week I woke up with Pink Puffy Nasty-Eye syndrome. I attempted to put in my contacts. Tears. Burning. Bad idea. So I wore my super trendy hipster glasses instead. I think they make me look smarter and more Pinteresty, but apparently my students didn't think so. More on this later.

Last week my kids learned how to subtract mixed numbers. On the Fun-O-Meter, 11-year-olds rank this somewhere between "Talking Politics with Elmo" and "Walking on Thumbtacks." I was scurrying from desk to desk helping students with their homework when one of my sweet girls stopped me.

"Miss B, you look like someone in your glasses but I can't think of who."

"Really? Well if you remember let me know..." *I continue helping another student*

"OH!! Miss B!! I know who it is! You look like Lil' Wayne!"

Let's pause for a moment of comparison, shall we? This is me:

And this is Lil' Wayne (I made the same face as him to make for a more accurate assessment):

What do you think? I can see her point. He is wearing glasses similar to mine. And we both have a nose. I’m pretty sure that’s where the comparison stops, though. So now I must ask myself, was this a compliment? Some twisted form of flattery? Is she saying I’m super swagged-out? Perhaps she’s suggesting that she believes I can drop some sick rhymes about mixed numbers (or should I say Myxed Numb3rs? Seems more hip that way).  On the other hand, I’m thinking I should be slightly concerned that she made this mental connection.

The rest of the class fell silent as they waited to see how I would react to this accusation. I could hear stifled snickers in the background. My mentor teacher was sitting at her desk making a “Did I hear that correctly?” face. My reaction was one of those moments when what was happening in my brain spilled out of my mouth, which is not always a good thing…

“Lil’ Wayne? I look like Lil’ Wayne? But he’s a man… and he’s black!”

*More stifled giggles. Mentor teacher loses composure and laughs hysterically.*

“Well if I look like Lil’ Wayne, then you look like Abraham Lincoln.”

“Naw Miss B, you be trippin’.”

Ah.  I be trippin’.  I hate it when that happens.