That which by any other name...

Are you familiar with marshmallow?

No, I don't mean the puffy sugar treat that is excellent when paired with hot chocolate, rice krispies, or graham crackers and chocolate. Especially with graham crackers and chocolate.

I mean the color. Marshmallow.

This year, my classpack of Crayola markers got a few new friends due to an ordering mistake at the early childhood center. The 10 pack of assorted colors added some variety to our marker sets. Laser Lemon is a favorite, as is Marshmallow. At least that is what the second graders call it. No, it is not white, off-white, or cream. To me, I would call it light purple. But apparently the name is Marshmallow. They have said it so many times that yesterday, when I reached for a marker and debated which color I wanted, I vocalized to myself "Marshmallow." It was then I decided to enlighten the (blog) world about such a tint of purple. Until I looked at the barrel of the marker. Tropical Purple.

What!?! This color is called Marshmallow!
Don't the people at Crayola know that?

I still have no idea why my students insist on calling it marshmallow. While pink marshmallows are nearly as common as white (outside the US), I have never seen a purple marshmallow.

Until I began drawing with it...

Class Pets?

With each class period, my love for Dumpling grew and grew.

     He won't hurt you.
     He's been here since Christmas vacation.
     He stays up by the lights and never even comes down by people.

You can only repeat those phrases so many times before that little (nasty) moth endears himself to your heart.

It wasn't just me. Even one fifth grader remarked "I normally don't like bugs but I love Dumpling!"

And then we found out Dumpling had a love of his own, Honey Drop. Yes, one of my students noticed that there were TWO moths. Which only brought more questions. How do you know it is a boy? Which one is Dumpling? How do you know that's Dumpling and not Honey Drop? The simple solutions---"Miss Brown told me" and "Dumpling is the one that flies around. Honey Drop likes to sit and rest."

What happened next was magical. I had just told a room of crazy first graders that Dumpling had never touched anyone and then he landed right on me!

The students decided that he landed on me because he loved me. We did spend lots of time together. And amazingly, having preached a message of moth love to students for a few weeks, I didn't freak out at all. There was a moth on my shoulder and I was still as can be, trying to keep him there as long as possible so my TA could grab a camera and document this!






Me and Dumpling!

(Obviously this is Dumpling, not Honey Drop, because he landed on me. Honey Drop likes to sit and rest.)




The first graders couldn't stop talking about our mothy friends for the rest of class.

     I wish I had a moth as a pet.
     I think he eats the m&ms you give him.
     I want to name him Bumpling.
     I want to name him Shine because he likes the light.
     If you say the moth's name, will it come to you?

Then the weather got warm. Just as my Chinese friend suggested, Dumpling only liked me for my warm classroom. Spring break came and went, and there went Dumpling and Honey Drop.

I miss the buzzing of their wings in the lights. The craziness that ensued every time they made an appearance. The fact that I had a class pet--me, the one who has a strong aversion to animals.

Our classroom gave our mothy friends a warm and welcoming place to spend the winter, and they gave us many smiles, a few shreaks, and lots of laughs on cold winter days.

The Class Pet

After our 5 week hiatus from school, I came back to a classroom with a new resident: Mr. Moth.

At least I'm guessing he's a moth. He's got wings but a very large body, like that of a carpenter bee. I call him a moth because it's less scary than the alternatives.

He first came out to play during a prep period. His buzzing wings startled me, but I decided to leave him alone.

          He'd find his way out eventually.

One day, he came out in front of the students. Fourth graders, to be exact. They weren't so fond of him. Screaming, hiding under the table, refusing to do work. I wanted them to ignore him, as I'd done earlier, but it quickly became clear that other actions were necessary. Since he was drawn to the light, we turned out all the lights and shut the blinds, save one open window. It was cold, but we suffered the drop in temperature, in hopes he would fly out. Nope. I even trapped him under the blinds and tried to push him towards the window, but he managed to get free. Eventually, he settled down and went back to hiding from the students.

          Until today.

In the middle of third grade art, he decided to stretch his wings. Not willing to sacrifice work time again, I quickly announced "That's the class pet." What? "Yeah. He's a moth and he's the class pet. He's been living here since Christmas break. I promise he won't hurt anyone."

Well not only did we avoid the complete chaos of the fourth grade freak out session, we made a friend. By the end of the period, third grade had developed a list of names and voted on their favorites. I approve of all the top-rated names. Mothy, Dumpling, Arty, Fly Guy, and Junior M. You can see them listed on the board below, along with some less popular options. Mothy is my least favorite. Dumpling is just funny because we live in China. Arty--perfect for the art room! Fly Guy has a great rhyme for a flying creature. And Junior M, well that's in honor of me, Miss M.

I'm thinking if Mr. Moth makes an appearance in any more classes, I'll let them vote on this list of five.