Our grandson has told some tall tales in his day. Last Halloween, his teacher sent his parents a note: "This may be none of my business, but I think you should know that Andrew's been telling me that he can bring dead animals back to life by shocking them with electricity." We didn't know what to think! Then we remembered that Andrew had been entranced with TV ads for the movie, Frankenweenie. He could hardly wait to see the movie that weekend with his parents. After his mom explained this to his teacher, the specter of ghoulish experimentation was laid to rest.
This wasn't his first tall tale. In kindergarten, he told his class that his father worked at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, where he entertained the crowds by putting on a wet suit and swimming around in the big pool feeding the stingrays and nurse sharks. The teacher checked out the story with his dad, just to make sure.
In first grade, his teacher asked him one morning why he was so sleepy. He volunteered that he had gone night-fishing with his grandfather. They didn't get home until midnight. Again, he must have been fairly convincing.
"You mean to tell me that your parents allowed your grandfather to take you fishing on a school night?"
"Yeah, Mom said it was OK."
"This is ridiculous! No wonder you're so tired. What was your mother thinking?"
Andrew probably shrugged. The teacher calmed down after she learned the truth. Andrew told these two fish tales at his old school. Soon the teachers probably got immune to his stories. Last year, he changed schools. New school, new opportunities for story-telling. He managed to stir things up. Just once.
In first grade, his teacher asked him one morning why he was so sleepy. He volunteered that he had gone night-fishing with his grandfather. They didn't get home until midnight. Again, he must have been fairly convincing.
"You mean to tell me that your parents allowed your grandfather to take you fishing on a school night?"
"Yeah, Mom said it was OK."
"This is ridiculous! No wonder you're so tired. What was your mother thinking?"
Andrew probably shrugged. The teacher calmed down after she learned the truth. Andrew told these two fish tales at his old school. Soon the teachers probably got immune to his stories. Last year, he changed schools. New school, new opportunities for story-telling. He managed to stir things up. Just once.
My favorite cousin, Paul, was a teller of tall tales, too. He recounted to us at a young age how a plane had landed on the highway ahead of his dad's car. He siad they had seen the wings chop off the head of a man in a convertible. We were fascinated! The worst that happened to cousin Paul is that he grew up to be in the other political party.
ReplyDeleteI love these stories of Andrew. Thanks for writing about them!
ReplyDeleteLove, M