The Confidence of Kindergarteners

Yesterday, this little guy from Kindergarten came running full speed into the office to see the school nurse for his "be good" pill. He is one of my favorites because he reminds me of how I imagine my husband as a 5 year old. This kid is always running, talks loudly, and says exactly what he thinks. The only difference is about 50 years.

So, I slowed him down, gave him a hug and reminded him to have a good day. The little guy looks at me with a big smile and announces at the same decibel as a jet plane taking off for flight, "I've had a good day today - ALL DAY!" It was 8:15 a.m. I love his confidence.

No sooner had I quit laughing when one of the Kindergarten teachers stopped me in the hall to tell me about one of her students. She has a child who is Vietnamese. His parents are very supportive - but you wouldn't say they have a great command of the English language. When the teacher called the parents the day before to let them know how their little sunshine had been acting, they assured the teacher that the child was "on punishment."

The next morning, there was a note of apology from the parents and this.


I'm sure they meant to have him swear to be good but something got lost in translation. Still, it speaks of confidence.

But nothing speaks of confidence quite like this Kindergartener's (future ex-wife of someone) writing.



Ahhh... To have that kind of confidence again. Now I've got to check out this classroom. I have no idea what this teacher is teaching in there.

A Dangerous Place

If you want a job that you take seriously with little opportunities to laugh, I don't suggest working in an elementary school. Maybe you should be a funeral director. That or work in the finance industry. As for me, I love working in the land of never-ending laughs.

Yesterday, while observing one of the speech teachers, this was the conversation I heard.

Speech Teacher: Look at this picture. Can you tell me the name of this animal?

Tinkerbell: Dats a bunny.

Speech Teacher: You are right, that is a bunny. Can you tell me another name for a bunny.

Tinkerbell: Well, some teeple call it a wabbit but in my tontry we tall it a bunny. (Interpretation - Well, some people call it a rabbit but in my country we call it a bunny.)

Speech Teacher (trying not to laugh): What country is your country?

Tinkerbell: Georgia (said with complete exasperation for the stupidity of adults).

Often, it is hard to keep a straight face. I'm still humored by the little boys who whip out their stuff to pee on the playground. It is hilarious and I sometimes feel bad for people who live to be so stuffy.

In another incident, Eeyore was brought to school by her uncle. As can happen some mornings, Eeyore was doing the Eeyore shuffle with her head hung low. When I asked if Eeyore was having a rough start (it is safe to say that Eeyore is NOT a morning person), her uncle laughed and said Eeyore was mad. Apparently, she needed a dollar for something in her class and she did not believe him when he said four quarters was a dollar. I love when *problems* are this easy to fix. A simple detour to the school secretary and a quick magic trick to turn four quarters into a dollar almost got a smile from Eeyore. And an almost smile before noon from Eeyore is about as good as it gets. She is more entertaining than an episode of the Wiggles meets the Teletubbies, for sure!

I think my favorite quote of the day came from Barbie Stickers. After air stabbing her pencil and scissors at her teacher because she didn't want to work, she made a visit to me. I tried to talk with her but Barbie Stickers just hissed at me like a cat. Since it was right at the end of the day, I took Barbie Stickers out to the car pick up line where her mother was waiting. While getting in the car, Barbie Stickers started screaming at her mother. One of the things she screamed was "School is dangerous!" This from the girl making stabbing motions at her teacher.

Don't know why, but I thought I would die laughing. Maybe it is a dangerous place after all.