A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this post by Louise Marley. It led to this fun exchange.

It is an odd collection of nonsense, isn’t it? And as a matter of fact, everything there has a story!

Let’s start with this random hodgepodge of junk. See, to my kids, my desk is “that place to put stuff when you don’t want to put it where it goes” or “drop that thing that I don’t want to take out back” central. I can’t say I’m upset that a minion has watched me work for some time.

By the way – with the exception of the Minecraft pig, this stuff wasn’t in the original pic because a lot of it was hiding behind other stuff. And before you judge me too harshly, allow me to remind you of the immortal words of Einstein:

Moving on to the good stuff now.

Teacher’s Treats Jar

This jar was given to me by a student over a decade ago. I use it to keep goodies that I don’t want my kids to know about. By some miracle, they haven’t figured out I do that.

So parents – if you’re wondering if teachers keep the presents you give them, here’s proof that they do. That same student (okay, his mom) also gave me a Christmas cactus that I’ve managed to not kill. It’s not on my desk so you don’t get to see it.

---

The Wee Head-shaking Owl

This is not his first appearance on the blog (his first one was here). Sadly, his solar charging capabilities seem to have worn out, so he doesn’t shake his head much anymore. Once in a while he’ll look to the side, which was great fun when I had to record my kid reading something and my voice memo app didn’t want to cooperate. I used the video recorder instead, focusing the camera on Little Owl. The person receiving the video didn’t know the head moved, so when it did once or twice during the recording, he decided Little Owl was possessed.

---

That WTF Frog Figurine

This goes back to a family joke. My dad has a pond in his yard, and my siblings and I decided he needed some tacky crap to go around it. So for every birthday, Father’s Day, and Christmas for several years, I gave him a tacky frog decoration for his pond (he puts them out there!). Solar-powered frogs with glowing eyes. Frogs assembled from bits of scrap metal. Big round ones and little cartoonish ones.

So this was gifted to me as revenge. I keep it on my desk because it’s too tacky not to.

---

The Big Stuffed Owl and Little Pink Heart

The owl was gifted to me by my mother-in-law. I parked it on my desk on that day and it hasn’t moved. It’s become like a mascot. Or a guardian. I mean, someone has to protect the Treats Jar.

The heart was made by one of my kids with those plastic bead things that you melt with an iron. I think he must have put it next to the Big Owl upon noticing Big Owl never moved.

---

The Big Jar of Cards

This is the most sentimental item on my desk, I think. When I left my teaching position last year, the class of third graders I worked with made goodbye/inspirational cards for me and put them in that jar. My instructions were to read one when I missed them or missed teaching. I’ve followed their instructions to the letter (and yes, I have read several because I do miss them).

The coins are there because I decided it would be a good place to collect pocket change to put in the firefighter’s boots over Labor Day weekend (friends across the pond – firefighters stand outside retails establishments with their empty boots to collect money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Any other time, I’m sure shoving money into their footwear isn’t appreciated.)

---

So what does my desk say about me? I’ll leave that to you to decide.

What kinds of things are on your desk?