6 Tumble, Fluff, Shrink!

Tumble, Fluff, Shrink!

"Mom! Stink's doing homework again!" Judy said. "You can't tell on me for doing homework," said Stink. "Homework, schmome-work. Let's do something good." "My homework's good." "What's your homework?" asked Mom. "Presidents' Day." "You're not dressing up as a human flag again, are you?" asked Judy. "No. I have to tell what Presidents' Day means to me."

"Stink, everybody knows what Presidents' Day means. Presidents' Day means your teacher reads you a book about George Washington's teeth and Abraham Lincoln's beard. Presidents' Day means you make stuff out of Popsicle sticks, like a log cabin or a flag." "Nuh-uh," said Stink. "Presidents' Day means you draw three circles. One for Lincoln, one for Washington, and one in the middle for the stuff that's the same about both." "It's called a Venn diagram," Mom said. "My homework is what it means to me. Not what it means to Mr. Venn." "Good for you," Mom said. "What does Presidents' Day mean to you?" "Two words," said Stink. "Washington and Lincoln," said Judy. "James Madison," said Stink. Stink got out a bag of cotton balls. Stink made an old-timey James Madison wig. Judy helped

him glue cotton balls to her old Brownie cap. "Pass the glue," said Stink. "Quit hogging." "Not so much!" said Judy. Stink didn't listen. He just kept gluing more cotton balls. "Let's see how it looks," said Stink.

"It has to dry first, or all the cotton balls will fall off," Judy told him. "Let's dry it in the dryer, then," Stink said. "Genius!" said Judy. Stink put the wig in the dryer. "Press START," said Stink. "I can't reach." Judy pressed the fluff-and-tumble button. They waited. Ga-lump, ga-lump. They waited some more. The buzzer went off. "Voilà!" said Judy, pulling out the wig. "YIPES!" yelled Stink. "I said press START. Not SHRINK. Now it looks like... an elf wig. An ant wig." "YOU put it in the dryer," said Judy. "YOU pressed the button," said Stink. "Never mind. We can put powder in your hair. Like James Madison."

"You mean I can put powder in my hair," said Stink. "Just to make sure it doesn't turn orange or anything." "BOR-ing," said Judy. On Friday, Webster read his report aloud first. It was about making red, white, and blue potholders at his grandpa's nursing home on Presidents' Day. "Presidents' Day means to me that we should have a girl president," said Sophie of the Elves. "Since we don't, I wrote a poem about a First Lady. Stink told me about her, and I found out more. Her name is Dolley Madison." Dolley Madison, first to be called First Lady. On a fifteen-cent stamp. Liked to dance and fish and cook and ride horses. Looked like a queen. Easter egg hunt, started it. Yum! Cupcakes are named for her.