An offer you can't refuse

We have something for sale at our house, or rent, or for auction to the highest bidder or even free to a good home.

This is Jeff, our 14 year old. He is for sale, cheap.

Why?


Because in his Academic Literacy class his teacher (please keep in mind that both my husband and I work at this school...) gave an assignment to write about a problem that concerns them about the world, their family, their life.


Jeff was very excited about this assignment and then "it struck a sad chord" (Jeff's words)
He then realized that this was his lucky day, he could tell the sad tale of his life and how unloved and unwanted and neglected he is. The hamster gets more attention than him after all.


One of the parameters of the assignment was to find five different causes of the problem from others who have dealt with that same issue, using the internet. Jeff was confused about what exactly to look up for his problem...


So he sadly went to his teacher, head hung low, fighting back the tears, (do you know sarcasm?)
and said to Mrs. Decker, "what would I look up if my problem is that I am the least favorite child and my little brother gets away with everything?"


Mrs. Decker looked at him bemused and shocked and said, "Why Jeff, I have never dealt with this problem, I was always the favorite." (feeding the fire in his soul...) " Well, you could look under favoritism in families or sibling rivalry."


He moped back to his desk; sad, dejected and alone. He stared at the laptop on his desk and slowly began to type. Then the words started to come easier to him and he typed feverishly, much like Ralphie writing the theme outlining why he needed a Red Ryder Beebee gun. This paper was going to be a masterpiece!! Jeff was the first one finished. He saved it to the computer, and laid his little blonde head down on the computer, wishing the tears would come. Surely his beloved Mrs. Decker would know his sad plight.


As his teacher told his Mom this sad tale, visions of years of vacations, nights of board games, bedroom redecorating, cell phones, TV's, I-pods, $1000's of $$ spent on Chicken Nuggets because he would eat nothing else and the loads and loads of toys and fun stuff that has been given to this sad boy over the years- flashed before my eyes. Mrs. Decker? She was cracking up as she told the story and remembered the sorely neglected young man in her class who always has a smile on his face and always has something funny to say. "Yep" she thought..."he's got a sad life." Not.

He may not be neglected, unloved or put upon,
But he certainly is entertaining.

Note: No 14 year olds were harmed in the writing of this blog, (except maybe his feelings) as we were all laughing hysterically as HE retold the story to us. Can you say sibling rivalry? We're putting him into Drama next year.