Mom Says: I Am Not an Exotic Dancer, I Work at Home Depot

by Lisa Freedman (Subscribe to Lisa Freedman's posts) Dec 1st 2009 2:00PM

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Does mommy really work at Home Depot? Credit: kontraband.com

Any mom will agree that kids come up with the darndest things. When it's in the privacy of your own home it's usually funny. But when something is said or done in front of others, well, it can be downright humiliating.

Take this drawing, which was turned in as a piece of homework, for example. Her picture clearly shows mommy as a popular stripper and left mom with some explaining. Her follow-up note to the teacher is below:

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith

There's been some speculation to the authenticity of this viral picture. Is the mom really a stripper and trying to save face? Is the photo even real? After all, that's awfully neat handwriting for a young girl who draws with stick figures.

We think it's a hoax, but knowing what kids are capable of, anything is possible. What do you think?

Comments (100)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Kenney Young 12-01-2009 @ 5:36PM

Not that I have ever been in one of those kind of places...lol...but that definitely does not look like a shovel she' selling...I do agree though it's very good handwriting for a child...Great story...Kenney
http: //blog.mysoberlifetoday.com

Michelle 12-02-2009 @ 11:32PM

Then again it doesn't say how old the child is...for example a fifth grader could have easily written this...lol...funny story...also a great laugh for the day..

Hisgirl 12-02-2009 @ 8:50AM

Has anyone noticed the back of mommy or the angle of some of the "customers' heads? When I was in grade school and drew stick figures, none of the bodies had angles..lol. Looks like mommies backside is sticking out. Then we have the detail of the pole which is clearly a cylinder, none of the people have such detail?

I am thinking either the little one asked for mommies help or mommy drew this thinking it would never leave the house.

Kathy Anderson 12-02-2009 @ 9:44AM

As a mom of 4 and an elementary school teacher I can absolutely see that happening....too funny and definitely believable!! And yes kids CAN write that neatly!!!

Melissa 12-02-2009 @ 10:11AM

A child definitely did not write that... children are taught to write their 'I' specifically with the line above and below... these I's are just a single straight line... plus... the school would be in a hell of a lot of trouble if they disclosed the picture and the parent's note to the public... and look at the name of the teacher and the parent... 'Mrs. Jones... Mrs. Smith"... come on people... this is a total hoax... and not even a clever one at that...

jeremy Taylor 12-02-2009 @ 10:17AM

a girl wrote it.. remember, they're notorious for neat hand writing at a young age

Wayniac 12-02-2009 @ 11:48AM

Hoax or not, it's hilarious!

Sharon 12-02-2009 @ 1:22PM

It does too look like a shovel. Kids say and do the darndest things. So funny how we try to find bad when it should be good.

NICK 4-06-2010 @ 2:10PM

A shovel maybe. A hoe definitely.

LillieFaerie 12-03-2009 @ 11:57PM

Gosh, that's about par for kids who draw. Great ad for Home Depot regardless.

dorothy 12-02-2009 @ 9:39AM

SORRY EVERYONE BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT THE PICTURE I SAW A SHOVEL RIGHT AWAY, SO AS FAR AS A STRIPPER I DID NOT SEE ANYTHING TO RESEMBLE THAT. PEOPLE GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER AND LEAVE THE POOR LADY ALONE.
DOTTIE

WOW 12-02-2009 @ 9:59PM

WOW. LOL that's hilarious. I can see how they thought that though. It does look like a stripper than a home depot saleswoman, but thank goodness she isn't.

B. Myers 12-02-2009 @ 6:38AM

I was signing my son out of nursry school one day. While I was busy signing him out and paying for the days stay he started talking to another mother. "I'm not allowed to jump on my bed...but my mom and dad do....at night after they put me to bed...they think I don't know because they shut the door, but I know they do I can hear them jumping."
My son is in his thirties now...but the moment stays with me.

Just me 12-02-2009 @ 12:34PM

LOL -- My embarrassing moment was in the Walmart store walking down the toiletries aisle with a 3 year old who wanted to know if I needed any "bandaids" for my bottom....she's 21 now and I still think of that when we're at the store!

Toogy 12-02-2009 @ 10:38PM

That picture is from a skit on the Conan O'Brien show.

Kimga6 12-02-2009 @ 6:48AM

I can see this being a mix up. however I don't put a lot of stick in what the hand writting looks like , because I am 44 years old and my handwritting is close to perfect but my drawing is worse than a 4 year old, I am a poet by nature, but my artistic ability is 0. And once the picture was explainned its looks like what the woman said. If there were no such thing as strippers , everyone would have automatically saw the picture to be more like the woman said

Mindy 12-02-2009 @ 12:36PM

Kimga6,
I agree, I am 27 and I could not draw a human figure to save my skin, but my handwriting is very nice. I can see this being the child's work, and I think it really was supposed to be a snowshovel. I think some elementary age kids are very capable of writing this nicely. It could be a hoax, but it's a funny story either way.

B Myers,
That's a funny story! My cousin told my mom when he was little, that "last night my mommy and daddy were making noises like lions and tigers." A couple weeks ago, my son thought that Daddy was hurting me and he started crying in the hallway. That took a little bit of out of breath consoling to assure him that we were "just playing a game" lol

KMMS 12-02-2009 @ 7:02AM

Adorable!!! Oh, see how something so innocent can be twisted into something else. Yes, I now see the shovel but it took me a moment to understand what exactly Mommie was holding on too. Too funny. Mom handled it very well. Good way to start the day, with a hearty laugh.

Bill 12-02-2009 @ 7:21AM

Its not the handwriting, its how well the 'pole' is drawn. Really stick figures everywhere but the pole/handle seems a little too well drawn for a kid. But then again that may very well be a child's drawing so the jury's out on this one.

Nancy 12-02-2009 @ 8:28AM

I noticed how mom's butt is slightly angled back. Seems strange that a little kid would put her mom in that stance while all the men are straight-backed - and women don't buy snow shovels in her area? hmmmmm lol