The Class Clown

Annalisse excitedly texted me this morning to let me know she had been chosen for the Senior Superlative "Class Clown." Hmmm...am I proud? Am I mortified? Proud, I guess!! There's no denying it: that kid has a special twinkle that lights up her bubbly personality. But, it wasn't always that way!

When she was little (toddlerhood) she was a terror. She would have frequent meltdowns and had great difficulty with transitioning from one activity/time of day to another. We always had to be sure she was well rested, because when she wasn't she was out of control (right, Sue?). Even today she knows when to put herself down for a nap and is alternately whiny and non-communicative when she's tired.

Obviously, she's not always as perky and upbeat as she is when she's with her friends at school, but she is actually pretty pleasant most of the time. When she sasses back or gives us a hard time, I have to tel Mark that we "have to take the good with the bad."

Her current designation got me thinking about famous people who might have once been class clowns. Of course, a quick search of the World Wide InterWebNet revealed many sites that featured such talents. A sampling of celebrity class clowns include (many are not a surprise for obvious reasons):

• Henry Winkler
• Robin Williams
• Jim Carrey
• George Carlin
• Gillian Anderson (The X-Files)

Not that I'm saying Annalisse will be famous, unless by "famous" you mean she will be working in an aquarium with evil dolphins.  Not sure where she gets it from (I like to say it came from the Bell family), but it certainly makes life interesting for the rest of us.