There was a kid in Maddie’s old daycare room who Maddie labeled as “the bad kid.” I don’t know how bad this child was, but according to Maddie’s lore he was bad. For the sake of this Slice and to protect the innocent, let’s give him a pseudonym. Nolan Poppy.
Now, many years have passed since Maddie was in that daycare room. But the legend of Nolan Poppy survives. Whenever Maddie and Katie play school, Nolan Poppy is in trouble. Nolan Poppy has to sit in the corner. Nolan Poppy gets his clip moved to red. Nolan Poppy’s mom has to come pick him up. Nolan Poppy sometimes doesn’t get a pretend treat. Nolan Poppy, Nolan Poppy, Nolan Poppy.
Yesterday, Katie was rifling through the box of DVDs to find a movie, and she happened upon Maddie’s Spring Show from the old daycare. She popped it in the DVD player, and the girls sank into the couch to watch it. At the end of the show, each child received a certificate. The daycare director called the names. “Molly Andruch…. Maddie Murphy… Nolan Poppy.”
Maddie and Katie gasped! Nolan Poppy! The looked at each other, wide-eyed. “Nolan Poppy!” they said in unison.
I guess they had forgotten he was once a real child. They had forgotten the man behind the myth.
I sat in the kitchen chuckling to myself. I mean, how bad could one kid really be?
I’m writing a Slice of Life Story every day for the month of March as part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge. See more at Two Writing Teachers.
Murphy's Law 
I think we all have those people who follow is through our lives, never quite forgotten. Over time the memory changes, but never totally leaves us. They will probably still remember the child when they hit thirty.
Too cute! I wonder if their play about that bad boy will be as “purely bad” after remembering that he is a real kid? Your line “the man behind the myth” is too good, so funny referring to little kids thinking about a little kid. Also, “the girls sank into the couch” reminds me of the complete relaxation kids are capable of. I enjoy your easy, fluid, clear style of writing.
I could just imagine my sister and I as you read this. For us, it is Brent Calder socks. We had a boy who never remembered to bring shoes in winter, so he went around school in sock feet. His socks always slid down to hang loosely off his toes. Anytime we see anyone with socks like that we call them Brent Calder socks. I wonder where he is now.
This made me chuckle.
There’s a Nolan Poppy from Isabelle’s class last year. He got blamed for every unsavory behavior and bad choice that came home. For instance, I’d ask: “Who did you learn that from?” To which Isabelle would respond “Nolan Poppy!”
I love this “legend” of Nolan Poppy! This is so cute! I think there’s one in every class. Our “Nolan Poppy” is a biter in the preschool room. I don’t love the influence he is on my son (we’re pretty sure he’s the source of the potty language), but on the bright side, I guess it’s better to KNOW a Nolan Poppy than to BE the Nolan Poppy!
I can picture the Nolan Poppy. I’ve had a few in my classes through 20 years of teaching and coaching…there are currently two in Nat’s class (a Nolan and a Nolena). Cute story of the girls, their pretend play and the realization he existed.
It would be awesome to see were he is today! You will have to slice about him if you ever hear. I feel bad for his mom, he certainly has a reputation doesn’t he?
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So funny-that Nolan Poppy! He definitely could be the antagonist in s series of chapter books.
I remember you talking about how they would use this kid when playing! How funny that it’s become so wrapped up in myth for them that they’ve distanced themselves from it. I can just picture them looking at each other and saying it at the exact same time. 🙂
What an adorable story! Poor Nolan Poppy- maybe he’s just a little misunderstood!
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Nice Post
How funny! As I read this I could imagine them gasping in unison when they realized that this Poppy kid wasn’t a figment of their imagination. It reminded me of that 2015 M&M’s commercial where the the M&M’s stumbled upon Santa while putting out a treat for him to eat. “He does exist!” Great slice!