Just a Friendly Note

Elizabeth has been speaking with increasing frequency about a boy in her class. Let's pretend his name is Joe. When she speaks of him, her eyes get wide and she starts giggling hysterically. She usually ends her Joe story du jour with a loud sigh.

It's obvious that Joe is the class clown and that to Elizabeth, he is as good as Chris Rock. She had similar admiration for the class clown in last year's preschool class. By admiration, I mean she laughs uncontrollably, ensuring that the funny kid has both a purpose and an audience. But last year the funny kid was the teacher's son, so he didn't have much of a leash. This year, the funny kid is telling the class that he and Elizabeth are married and he's writing her love letters.

Elizabeth's class is learning all about correspondence, so each day the students practice writing letters, cards and addressing envelopes. Yesterday she showed me an empty envelope bestowed upon her by Joe. It was just a warm up. Today she came home with a sealed envelope, signed by Joe himself. He apparently gave it to her after saying "I love ya, baby" in a crazy voice. This is what was inside...

Huh. First impression: okay, kind of cute, a boy and a girl holding hands, maybe a cupcake on his shirt, perhaps they are holding a heart together, being supervised by the teacher. Nope. Per Elizabeth, Joe told her what she would find in the envelope: a picture of someone handing their own head to Joe while Elizabeth is watching.

Be still my heart.

I'm all kinds of confused. Who is the headless person and why are they red? Did the head just fall off or was force used? Perhaps this is a doll and Joe is showing what a good helper he is by replacing it's head? Is that a cupcake or a skull on his shirt? Is decapitation just your typical five year old boy kind of stuff? And why did Joe draw himself with a mouth and Elizabeth without?

Anyway, the letter was well received by Elizabeth with a giggly disgust. I grabbed the crayons and we all did some coloring with extra rainbows, unicorns and butterflies just for good measure. When Jay came home, Elizabeth gave him the letter and told him all about her husband, Joe. I wish I had taken a picture of Jay's face. Something tells me he won't be sleeping very well tonight.