A Pig Yarn

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
-Winston Churchhill

He gazed at her lovingly. "My dear," he asked sweetly, "how are you?"
"Just swine," she replied with a snork.

Pigs make me laugh. I don't know why. Real pigs don't do much for me but get a good illustrator and I'm wearing a grin from ear to ear! Yesterday I needed a pick up and found this site with great porker clipart. When I was a school teacher I got loads of pig items as gifts. I was constantly being asked "When is Pig Week?" The first year I did it my principal looked at me like I had lost it (and I had - it was the end of spring and I was bored and needed inspiration) My kids made tie-dyed shirts in pink (even the guys) and I wore my pig slippers! All of our academic subjects incorporated the pig theme. (pig math, pig science, etc.) One of my more stellar years included the production of "Pignochio". It was a wacky takeoff (a compilation of several fairy tales all in one) where all the kids wore pig ears and snouts. That year I had three boys I couldn't hook into anything. None of them cared for academics - home problems, self-esteem issues, etc. But there were the two of them as trees with pig snouts on their noses and the other boy got to be "Biker Pig" with a ring in his snout. The star of the play was a child who didn't believe he could memorize the lines but was perfect for the role. He was a special education student who worked every night with his Mom and with his special education teacher in order to be Pignochio. His Mom and his special ed teacher laughed and cried out in the audience. The Fairy Pig Mother was a hoot too. "I'm your Fairy Pig Mother," is a forever line in my mind. We always ended the week watching either "Babe" or "Gordy". And...if you've never taken a look at "Pigs Aplenty Pigs Galore" or "Pigs Ahoy" by David McPhail your kids will enjoy them and the pics are wonderful. The last event was a "Pig Out". Better known in my classroom as - a study in health and nutrition - - or at least that's what I told the principal when she asked how a party fit into QCC objectives. She always laughed and joined us. We had pink punch, pig cookies, pink cupcakes, etc. Ah memories!

Here's a pic of the elephant sweater:

And here's a pick of the garter stitch baby sweater I'm knitting in some Pompador (3 colors knitted together):

And I leave you with a couple of silly links. If you want to get something for that guy in your life (or you're one of those trendy gals who wears this over leggings) click here. If you want your very own pig here's a pattern from New Zealand.

Here's the Ryan Seacrest tradition - "Pig - OUT!"

Comments

[Kathleen]

That sounds like so much fun. It seems these days, the schools take themselves way too seriously. Not enough fun. Thank you for sharing. :)

[greta]

We are HUGE fans of Pigs in Space....anything with Miss Piggy just cracks me up! Loved this post, it shows me how incredibly creative you are!

[:) Nicole]

Cute story! Loved it, and after getting to know you through the blog, I can definitely "see it". Got a question for you: Would you be interested in being my maternity sub? You have seen the kids. You would probably have to begin spring semester. We were approved for new texts, and I would be teaching out of them for the first time. I saw how good you were with curriculum. You could put together an AWESOME class. My class load so far is really small. I would not worry about the kids if I had someone there whom I trusted. :) Mull it over...Mwa-ha-ha...