Hair Tinsel

I am teaching 3rd grade this year and can't help but find humor in the things that come our of their mouths. I have a group of strong personalities which lead to some entertaining discussions and exhausting days. Here is just a glance into an average day.
I have been trying to use picture books to introduce some CAFE strategies in our classroom. This is very successful if I can just get them to stop blurting out their connections mid-story. They have wonderful things to share but I'd like to actually hear them all.

I was in the middle of an engaging page when one of my sweethearts blurts out:

"Mrs. G, do you have tinsel in your hair?"

Now, for those of you who don't know...tinsel is actually put into peoples hair as decoration. It's actually very cute looking...I have been considering getting them for my 4 year old niece.

I was surprised at this outburst but was not surprised by the mouth it came out of.

"No, I don't have tinsel in my hair...WHY?", I asked with true disbelief in my tone.

"Because you have silver glittery stuff in your hair.", she replied without hesitation.

The light bulb began to glow over my head as my cheeks began to turn a bright shade of crimson. This was not happening to me.

"Oh sweetie", I replied in my sweetest teacher voice, "those would be grey hairs. Grown-ups get those when they have kids and in moments like this." I couldn't help but smile and give a slight giggle at this embarrassing moment.

"Well, it's really glittery!", she replied without an ounce of sarcasm or judgement.

How can you not smile a little? At least she thought these glittery hairs were trendy. Am I missing something?

I went to check out these silver, glittery tinsel strands in my hair during recess. The mirror revealed that they needed to be removed....IMMEDIATELY. Dark hair and "silver tinsel" just don't go together. Maybe I need to trend up a bit and add some red tinsel to my hair...something to ponder.