Once Upon a Time Mommy was Funny...

I was recently cleaning out my closet when I came upon this silly little award (a Genie lamp that you shake and it tells your fortune) that I received in high school when I was voted wittiest of my graduating class. I remember that it was bestowed upon me at our senior Prom, which was an Arabian Nights Theme.

I didn't mean to save it but my beloved father, who is known for pilfering through the trash, saved remnants of my adolescent years and gave them back to me in a box on my 21st birthday. (Also included in said box were forged sick notes and bad progress reports-thanks dad).

Anyhoos...I found this dinky award the other day and my children grabbed it right up and started playing with it. "Why do have this, mama?" Koen asked while shaking it feverishly. I then told them the story about how all the kids at my school voted and said that I was the funniest person in our class.

They couldn't believe it. I think that they were impressed because now they ask me to tell the story of how I was the only person who campaigned during the voting process. I stood by the ballot box and bribed people with Oreo cookies and it totally worked!

 Let me just say that I've never won anything in my life except for honorable mention in the softball throw in the 3rd garde, 4th place in a poetry contest in the 10th grade, and 1st place in a dance contest at a bar in Atlanta when I was 28 years old. That's it. Needless to say, winning that stupid award was a high point in my life.

So, it makes me happy to see my boys grabbing my esteemed award (that I forgot that I still had) and asking Aladdin their future. They ask all kinds of questions ranging from "Will we get McDonalds for dinner?" to "Will I be famous when I grow up?" Their little faces light up as they wait for the answer and I can't help but think back to the night that I won the award. I was so young and unsure of what my future would hold. Little did I know that these two silly and wonderful little boys would be in my life.

I like that I have hard evidence to show my children that I was a person before I had them. I like that they can hold that award and know that their mom was officially the funniest person in the room at one point in her life.

It's the little things, people!