Stories are what I do.

A couple of weeks ago, I was getting a bikini wax. (Now, I know this sounds like oversharing, but it’s relevant, so bear with me.) It can be an awkward process, particularly if your waxer isn’t someone you know well, and this was my first time at this salon. To make conversation, I mentioned that I appreciated the convenience of their online booking system. The waxer (Christy, maybe?) perked right up.

Christy: Yeah, isn’t it awesome? It’s so much more private that having to call in the middle of the day with everyone in your office listening to you announce you need a bikini wax.

Me: And I’m a teacher, which would make that even MORE inappropriate than in an office.

Christy: Oh, you’re a teacher? I got called one at Safeway yesterday because of my shoes [something from the Nike composition pack]. This woman was like, “oh, you’re a teacher? I'm a teacher! Where do you teach?”

Me: How weird.

Christy: Yeah, and I was like, “Ummmm….no.” I guess she thought only a teacher would wear shoes that look like paper.

Me: I guess I can see that….but still.

Christy: And even if I was a teacher, I don’t know about you, but when I’m not at work, the LAST thing I want to do is talk about work. Right? Like I go out with friends and they’re always telling people that they should ask me waxing questions, and seriously I don’t want to talk about it, I’m just like, “Call me on Tuesday between 10 and 7 and we can talk then.” Because I’m not working then and I don’t even want to think about work.

Me: [noncommittal noises]

We chatted about this and that for the rest of the wax, but I kept thinking about what she’d said. That when she’s not at work, the last thing she wants to do is talk about work. The thing is, that’s not true for me. I LOVE to talk about work. I love to tell stories about my kids, because to me, they are endlessly fascinating. The stories are sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartrending, sometimes horrifying, but always, always, always fascinating. Plus I'm an English teacher; stories are what I do.

And so that’s why I decided to start this blog. To tell my stories about my kids, all the stories that I come home bursting to share with someone, whether my husband, my sister, a friend, my mom, a stranger at the grocery store – now I’ll put them here. Christy and I will just have to agree to disagree on this one.