Breakfast with Grandma It was the second week of September and Elisa Michaels was sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework She was writing a report for her second grade class Whenever she came to a hard word she asked her mother for help There are five people in my family she wrote I have a big brother and a little brother My big brother is named Russell He is eleven years
old My little brother is Marshall I call him Marshie because he's soft like a marshmallow He is two years old I have a mommy and a daddy I don't know how old they are Elisa put down her pencil Mommy how old are you she asked Why do you want to know that Mrs Michaels inquired She was standing nearby ironing I need the information for my report Are you writing a report about me Mrs Michaels asked sounding surprised I am writing about our whole family You can skip the part about my age Mrs Michaels told her Tell about your brothers and yourself Elisa looked at Marshall who was sitting on the kitchen floor with his pacifier in his mouth and happily rolling a ball toward the wall When the ball returned to him he rolled it again Elisa liked to play with him
Everyone who saw Marshall commented on what a good toddler he was and how well he could entertain himself Elisa didn't want to write about that And she didn't want to write about Russell who was growing so big that soon he would be as tall as their mother Sometimes Russell teased Elisa Sometimes he was mean Mostly though she thought he was a good brother She could say that but she didn't want to Elisa pushed her eyeglasses up on her nose She could say that she wore glasses but everyone who saw her would already know that She could say that she was seven years old but everyone in second grade was seven or going to have a birthday very soon She could say that she'd lost her two top teeth but everyone could see that too Then she got another idea I have two cousins One is Howie He is almost the same age as Russell The other cousin
