Time Warp

On average, I would say I get about five or six excuses per week for coming in late from recess - give or take a few.  The majority of them are unoriginal and clearly spur-of-the-moment, very little creativity or planning involved.  Here are a few examples and how I generally respond:

"I didn't hear the bell." 
       Yet somehow the other 27 students in my class did.  Hmmm...
"Well he was out there, too!"
       Oh, I apologize.  I didn't realize he was in charge of you.  My bad.
"I was in the office with the principal."
       Well, I can't wait to talk to her about what happened!  I'll bet your mom is looking forward to it, too.     
"I wasn't done playing."
       Gosh, I hope you managed to wrap it up because your play time for today has officially come to an end.
 "I had to wash my hands - they were dirty from the sandbox."
       I don't really have a witty response for this one because any time they're willing to wash their hands, it's best not to discourage it.
   
Pretty standard stuff.  So imagine my sheer joy when Jack answered my inquiry into his tardiness with,

"Mrs. Plant, you wouldn't have believed it.  I just went through a time warp.  I know it because I was in line to come in from recess, and then all of a sudden...everyone was gone." 

Dun, dun, dun!  Very mysterious.

Now, if you come to me with explanations of that caliber, you are bound to get away with coming in late.