For Daddy

A couple of snow days this week turned into a golden opportunity for me and Phoebe to do some girl bonding. We studied a single-spaced, front and back list of spelling words for the elementary school spelling bee, held Thursday night. We had a blast, especially with the foreign words.

There was a run of words in the bee that felled kids like sheaves of wheat: Burrito. Chimichanga. And Phoebe got up and spelled Mariachi correctly. She may have been the only kid in that room who's actually heard a live mariachi band. She's heard several, in fact, most recently in a little bar in New Mexico.

Naturally, I burst with pride when the Marietta Times came today with a picture of Miss Coco Chanel spelling Mariachi to take the fifth grade trophy. Her friend McKenzie won for the fourth grade, and her friend Allie won for the sixth. We think the bee on the trophy bears more resemblance to a cockroach, but we'll take it.

Who designs these things??