Gooney Bird and the Room Mother

The students of Mrs. Pidgeon's second-grade class at Watertower Elementary School prepare for their Thanksgiving pageant while searching for a room mother, a parent volunteer who helps with classroom events.

In early November, the children work on a Pilgrim mural spread across the classroom floor. Gooney Bird Greene, an outspoken and eccentric student who insists on being at the center of everything, removes her hiking boots to reveal one red sock and one yellow sock. She explains that matching socks gives her a feeling of "ennui," and Mrs. Pidgeon writes the word on the board for a dictionary exercise. The class has individual dictionaries thanks to Gooney Bird's earlier efforts: Shortly after transferring to Watertower Elementary in October, she visited the public library in one of her signature unusual outfits, persuaded the head librarian to call a wealthy benefactor, and secured twenty-two brand-new dictionaries for the class. When the other children grow excited about having mismatched socks of their own, Gooney Bird organizes a sock-swap circle, and soon every student wears a mismatched pair.

The school principal, Mr. Leroy, announces over the intercom that each classroom needs to select a room mother by Friday. When Mrs. Pidgeon asks her students to inquire at home, every child returns with a refusal. Tyrone's mother demands minimum wage. Chelsea's mother is overcommitted with the parent-teacher association (PTA). Keiko's mother works in the family store. Malcolm's mother, overwhelmed with newborn triplets, screamed when asked. Beanie's mother is exhausted from driving Beanie to daily activities. All other parents decline as well. Mrs. Pidgeon mentions that her own mother is very old and lives at the Misty Valley Elderly Care Facility, where Mrs. Pidgeon visits every Sunday with flowers. Gooney Bird, wearing a sweatshirt reading "Mother Earth" on the front and "Love Your Mother" on the back, reports that she tried to cajole her own mother but was turned down. Mrs. Pidgeon adds "cajole" to a growing vocabulary list on the board. Mr. Leroy visits the classroom in person to check on the search, underscoring the urgency.

With no volunteer in sight, Mrs. Pidgeon assigns the class roles for the pageant: eleven Pilgrims and eleven Native Americans. She withholds the part of Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe who historically served as interpreter and guide for the Plymouth colonists. The role will be a reward for whoever finds a room mother. During rehearsal, Gooney Bird asks to be excused and slips out to the school office to make a phone call. She returns and announces that she has found a room mother and therefore claims the role of Squanto. There is a catch: The room mother wishes to remain "incognito." Gooney Bird writes this word on the board, and the class looks up its meaning.

The children beg Gooney Bird to reveal the room mother's identity, but she refuses. She tells the story of how she recruited the mystery volunteer in what she calls an all-dialogue format, titling it "How Gooney Bird Got a Room Mother." In the story, she recounts a phone conversation with a woman she calls Mrs. X. Mrs. X is initially suspicious but gradually warms to the idea after Gooney Bird promises a seat of honor at the pageant and a special song Mrs. Pidgeon will compose. Mrs. X agrees on one condition: She must remain incognito until Thanksgiving. Gooney Bird pledges that her lips are sealed. Several children guess that the room mother is their own mother, but Gooney Bird refuses to confirm anything. Mrs. Pidgeon awards Gooney Bird the role of Squanto.

In the days that follow, the class works on costumes and rehearses. The children construct cardboard Pilgrim hats, bonnets, belt buckles, and Native American headbands decorated with beads and feathers. All of the headgear fits poorly, sliding down over the children's eyes. Gooney Bird decides Squanto should wear a top hat, reasoning that Squanto traveled to England and probably bought new clothes there. Mrs. Pidgeon composes the room mother song to the melody of "Moon River," struggling to avoid using the mystery woman's name. At one point she accidentally uses "Greene" as an example rhyme, and Gooney Bird glares at her, reiterating that Mrs. X will refuse to come if her identity is revealed.

On the Tuesday before the pageant, Mrs. Pidgeon writes "fiasco" on the board and confesses her fear that the entire production will be a failure. She worries that the songs are hasty, the costumes are ill-fitting, and the script is inadequate. Felicia Ann hugs her and says she is a wonderful teacher who taught Felicia Ann to read. Tyrone, Ben, and the other children echo this praise, reminding Mrs. Pidgeon that her real talent is teaching, not songwriting or costume design. Cheered, Mrs. Pidgeon listens as Gooney Bird announces she has an idea for improving the pageant.

On the day of the performance, the mural hangs on the wall of the multipurpose room, and professionally catered cupcakes decorated with turkeys and Pilgrim hats, provided by the still-anonymous room mother through a company called Creative Catering, sit on a table. Parents file in, including Gooney Bird's mother, Keiko's family, and Malcolm's mother maneuvering a huge triple stroller. Mr. Leroy introduces the event with a comically disastrous recap of the day's earlier performances: a kindergarten dance that gave a child a fat lip, a fourth-grade play missing its leads because of a stomach virus, a first-grade song mangled by children with missing front teeth, and a third-grade food reenactment that triggered vomiting onstage.

Gooney Bird dances to the front of the room wearing fuzzy bedroom slippers, her velvet skirt, a Hawaiian shirt, and her feathered top hat. She narrates the true story of Squanto's life: how he learned English from early settlers, traveled to England, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Spain, and eventually returned home to find his entire tribe had perished. At key moments, individual classmates step forward to define vocabulary words the class has learned throughout the month. Barry defines "imitation," Beanie defines "underestimate," Felicia Ann defines "cajole," Malcolm defines "interpreter," Tyrone defines "indefatigable," and Chelsea defines "fiasco." The pageant becomes a demonstration of what Mrs. Pidgeon has taught her students.

Gooney Bird concludes by saying the first Thanksgiving is a story about people becoming friends, helping one another, and being thankful. She invites classmates to share what they are grateful for. Nicholas is thankful for the mural, Keiko for her family, and Ben for Mrs. Pidgeon's teaching. Malcolm reluctantly admits he is thankful for his triplets, revealing their names for the first time: Taylor, Schuyler, and Tierney. He also thanks the room mother for the cupcakes.

From the back of the room, an elderly woman rises from a wheelchair, steadied by a nurse. She announces that she is the room mother and explains she has not held the role in thirty-five years, not since her daughter Patsy was in second grade. She says she is most thankful that her daughter became a teacher. She waves to Mrs. Pidgeon, who dabs her eyes with a handkerchief and replies, "Hi, Mom" (106). The incognito room mother is Mrs. Pidgeon's own mother from the Misty Valley Elderly Care Facility, the woman Mrs. Pidgeon visits every Sunday with flowers. The room mother reminds Gooney Bird of the promised song. Mrs. Pidgeon plays the opening chord, and the children sing "Room Mother" together.