Before and After

I always knew growing up that I wanted to be a teacher. At the tender age of 20, my dream came true as I welcomed my very first class of Kindergarten students. 10 years and over 200 students later, I finally went to our Teacher's College to become truly qualified. I never did go back to having my own class, as Keziah was born the year I graduated from College. Although I have been supply teaching a bit over the past 6 years, I have been home most of the time.

Every once in awhile, I will bump into an "old" student of mine and we often will start chatting about that year - the year when they stepped cautiously or excitedly into my classroom. We chat about what we remember about that year. Being Kindergarten, it was many years ago for some of my students, and so the memories can sometime be rather foggy.

However. There is often one story that comes up every time I ask a student what they remember. And it has nothing to do with me. Or them. But to do with Mr. Helder, my husband (or my dad if you are 5 :o)

Now, what is this story about Mr. Helder that has stuck in most of my students' minds?! Let me share it with you:

On one of our first dates as a married couple, we went to a seafood restaurant. Having looked at the menu, I order my trusty chicken dish and Nathan orders a fish. A whole fish. A whole fish that included the head. Yummy. Not. I clarify with the waitress that while I ordered a chicken dinner, I was *not* interested in the whole chicken. No head, feet or feathers for me, thanks!!

A little while later, our dinners are brought to us, and sure enough, on Nathan's plate is a complete fish. Tail, head, fins, eyeball. It's all there.

I cautiously cut a little piece off my chicken, while looking carefully to make sure there is nothing "extra" still attached.  As I chew my morsel of deliciousness, I look over to Nathan's plate and notice that the fish is no longer whole. Yes, the tail and fins are there.....but where is the head?!?!?! I glance up to ask Nathan where the fish head went and I see Nathan chewing.

No. Tell me he didn't.

Before I could start to choke, I see him dip down to his plate and spit something out.

It was the skull.

That's right - the brains, the head and eyeball had been eaten! All that is left is bone.

While I sit there with my mouth gaping open, trying not to gag, and telling myself that there is no way I will *ever* kiss that mouth again, Nathan calmly says, "Well, now I know what that tastes like.".

Well, of course I went to school the next day and told my students what Mr. Helder had eaten. And I told that story each and every year I taught. And apparently that story stuck! Never mind the copious amount of time I spent with my students, the love, care and dedication that I put into my job, it is the Fish Story that comes up as sometimes the only memory of Kindergarten.

Fast forward to present time. A few weeks ago, we went out for dinner. Sure enough, Nathan orders a fish. A complete fish. Head, tail, fins and eyeball. And yet again, I am left trying to enjoy my dinner while he mows down on this "delicacy". After all, it has been 16 years since the last time he had it!

And this time, instead of telling my students what he ate, we had the privilege of telling Keziah and Lincoln. Just in case they didn't believe it, I took pictures.

So this is my Before and After for this week:

Before:

And his fish, After:

At least this time he didn't stick the whole head in his mouth. He did eat the eyeball though like last time. As one of my students said, "Wow!! So the fish can see what Mr. Helder had for breakfast?!".

I don't know about you, but I shall continue to stick to my faithful and dependable chicken dinners.

No comment about whether I stopped kissing Mr. Helder though. ;)