hmmm... what's in that frying pan???

i have a squirrel in my class... very energetic, spirited, and humorous without ever trying to be.

she has kept her more nervous/fidgety behaviors tamed, but this past couple of days she's been all over the place. yesterday, for some reason while the rest of us were discussing the weather at calendar time, she decided to crawl from the carpet to the 'bookshop' and crouch behind the bookshelf - i saw her i think from when the idea popped into her blond little head - and watched in awe that she would be so unaware of the situation; or was she the one who was more aware of everything right then...?

anyway, i've had several close confrontations with her in the hallway outside the door about why she would choose to do things like this, and she seems to be looking back at me wondering why the hell i have a problem.

today, after a particularly confusing and pointless conversation with her about my expectations for her, i asked as a "by-the-way," 'what happened to your chin?' she had a long horizontal scab on her chin that she'd been feeling all day with her fingers.

she said, 'burned it.' very matter-of-fact. and i could see it all so clearly, it was the perfect shape. something smelled good. she wanted to know what was for dinner. i could see the hands on the edge of the stove and her face leaning forward as she bounced up and down to see what was in the pan.

'did you burn it on the stove?' a head nod. her face became serious as though i were her mother/father giving her hell for messing with the stove. i chuckled and stifled my urge to laugh outloud - not at her pain, but now knowing that if i were to call home and report her school-behavior to mom&dad, i'd get knowingly exasperated responses. kinda like 'what-else-is-new?' and because it was so easy to visualize, and so believable about her, and because this is a landmark in her life: "the day i learned the stove really is hot, even if mom and dad say it is."