‘Manly deeds, Womanly words,’ Boyish headbutts

I find it amusing and endearing that Will purchased a Paul Potts CD while I was away last week. Paul Potts, for those who don’t know, is a truly talented British singer who was working as a cell phone salesman when he broke into show business as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. We hadn’t heard of him until Susan Boyle ‘Dreamed Her Dream’ on the same show. But Potts had sung in similarly surprising fashion (though less globally publicized) 2 years earlier. Boyle’s fame brought Potts back to the fore…and led Will to the store. I’m quite sure he’ll be first in line to buy Boyle’s CD as well, whenever it is released.

In other news…

Ben head-butted the neighbor boy on the bus this morning—and landed his butt in the principal’s office. To quote Jane Austen: We are “all astonishment!” When asked if he would promise not to fight on the bus from now on, he reportedly replied to the principal, through tears: “I’ll try.” Gotta love that honesty.

At Kindergarten Open House tonight we collected a few freebies, including a set of bookmarks listing State capitols, State birds, State flowers, State trees, State songs and State mottos. After we met Ben’s teacher and toured his classroom, we went to the playground. While the kids played, I read the bookmarks, which were both educational and entertaining—the mottos, especially. For example:

Pithy:

• I Direct (Maine)
• Ever Upward (New York)
• The Union (Oregon)
• Equal Rights (Wyoming)

Singular:

• Hope (Rhode Island)
• Friendship (Texas)
• Industry (Utah)
• Forward (Wisconsin)

Divine:

• God Enriches (Arizona)
• Nothing Without Providence (Colorado)
• He Who Transplanted Still Sustains (Connecticut)
• In God We Trust (Florida)
• The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness (Hawaii)
• With God, All Things Are Possible (Ohio)
• Under God, The People Rule (South Dakota)

Off-Beat:

• I Have Found It (California)
• To the Stars Through Difficulties (Kansas)
• Manly Deeds, Womanly Words (Maryland)
• Thus Always to Tyrants (Virginia)
• Mountaineers Are Always Free (West Virginia)

Wordy But Inspirational:

• Prepared in Mind and Resources; While I Breathe, I Hope (South Carolina)

Favorite (I might make it my motto):

• To Be Rather Than to Seem (North Carolina)

Hats Off to the Carolinas. And may there be no more butting of heads.