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Grown-ups say there's a big problem with kids in our generation being out of shape because they don't exercise enough, but I don't think taking away our playground equipment is really helping matters. In one part of the Presidential Fitness Test, they check to see how many push-ups you can do in a row. The girls in our class did better than the boys, but that's only because the girls get to do an easier kind of push-up. The boys have to keep their whole body straight and go all the way to the floor and then all the way back up again.

But the girls get to let their knees touch the ground, so they have a HUGE advantage. Not all the girls were happy that they got to do easier push-ups than the boys, though. In fact, a couple of girls signed a petition saying they demanded to do the same kind of push-ups as the boys.

I'm pretty sure I know where they got that idea. In Social Studies we're learning about different ways people throughout history have protested to change things they weren't happy about. I think the girls were expecting a big fight out of Mr. Underwood, but he just told them they could do regular push-ups if they felt like it. So now we're all in the same boat. I thought that petition thing was a good idea, though. I figured us boys should be allowed to do the

easy push-ups if we want, so I wrote a petition and tried to get signatures. But I got a bad feeling when I saw the group of guys who wanted to sign my petition, and I decided to just drop the whole thing. A couple of weeks ago we had to do sit-ups during Phys Ed, but I got cramps and asked Mr. Underwood if I could just do the rest of my sit-ups as homework. He said that was OK, but he wanted proof that I did them. So the next morning I got some of Mom's mascara and drew a six-pack of abs on my stomach. Then I made sure I had my shirt off when Mr. Underwood walked through the locker room.

The next thing I knew, though, I had a bunch of copycats, and the following day half the guys in my class showed up with their OWN fake six-packs. But some of those guys were REALLY awful makeup artists. Still, I think we had Mr. Underwood fooled. At least until we got sweaty and the mascara ran.

Wednesday For the past few days I've been getting alerts on my Net Kritterz account, and if I don't get some Kritterz Kash soon, I could have a problem on my hands. MOOD METER GREGORY'S LITTLE FRIEND IS FEELING: AGITATED I asked Mom if she could just float me a few bucks so I could get my pet's Mood Meter back to "Calm," but she wouldn't budge.