scare tactics

i taught a program on "signs of spring" at a local elementary school today. in this photo, i am threatening to eat the next child that tries to tell a story. despite the fact that i told them 16 times, "if you have a story that you want to tell, please save it for the end of the program," they kept raising their hands and i would say, "ok, do you have a question or do you have a story?" and they would say, "a question." and then they would say, "once..." and i would cut them off right there because there is not a single question in the world that starts with that word. i gave the teacher a severe talking-to for not teaching her students the difference between a question and a story. i am just kidding about that. but i am not kidding about this- one particularly savvy first grader raised his hand and said this: "did you know that once, i had a garden snake, and i accidentally took him for a ride in my giant gator, and he got lost?" well, it was a question. and no, i did not know that.