A third grade teacher collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of the proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Their answers will surprise you.

€ Better be safe than ... punch a fifth grader.

€ Strike while the ... bug is close.

€ It's always darkest before ... Daylight Savings Time.

€ You can lead a horse to water but ... how?

€ Don't bite the hand that ... looks dirty.

€ A miss is as good as a ... Mr.

€ You can't teach an old dog ... math.

€ If you lie down with the dogs, you'll ... stink in the morning.

€ Love all, trust ... me.

€ An idle mind is ... the best way to relax.

€ Happy the bride who ... gets all the presents.

€ A penny saved is ... not much.

€ Two's company, three's ...the Musketeers.

€ Don't put off until tomorrow what ... you can put on to go to bed.

€ Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and ... you have to blow your nose.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teachers said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human and the story of Jonah was mistaken.

The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.”

The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”

The little girl replied, “Then you can ask him.”

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's art work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, “I'm drawing God.”

The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”

Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”

Dorothy Nelson lives and writes in Auburn