Kyle was a pudgy 3rd grader with a big personality and a slight overbite. He became the source of many entertaining moments over the course of my year with him, but this is the first. We were playing a singing game in which, at the end of the song, a child in the middle of the circle (whose eyes are closed throughout) guesses who sang the solo. I chose Christopher to be the guesser and Zachary to be the soloist. Kyle, along with the rest of the class, had a simple job: sing the song, then wait quietly while the guesser chooses. But Kyle wasn't the most patient of children so while Christopher was taking guesses, he was buzzing with the anxiety of keeping a secret. (Ever seen the Aunt Sue SNL skits with Kristen Wiig? Like that.*) He sat there fidgeting, sighing, and when he could take no more, he turned toward Zachary and awkwardly opened his mouth. Picture a crazed horse - upper lip pulled back, teeth bared, eyes wide. I didn't think much of it (kids are super weird, sometimes) until Christopher announced that he thought Zachary was the soloist. As I congratulated him on a good listening ear, Kyle interrupted me and shouted, "HE KNEW IT WAS ZACHARY BECAUSE I HAD MY BUCK TEETH POINTING AT HIM!!!" I stared blankly, connecting the dots and realizing that the crazed horse face was Kyle's attempt to help the guesser by pointing to the soloist... with his teeth.
Lucky Christopher! It's not everyday you're fortunate enough to have someone with buck teeth to point you in the right direction.
*If you haven't seen any of the Aunt Sue skits, you need to click here.