How to have a healthy heart!

A friend of mine let me share this and I tell you it warmed my heart. We all need to have a healthy heart and loving a little child is a great way to start! Free play at school today...one of my little people had the doctor kit and told me she had to check out my heart. After letting her listen I asked if my heart was okay. She smiled and said, 'Oh, yes, it loves me!' :) I love being with the perspective of four-year-olds!

Animal Lover

My granddaughter absolutely LOVES animals! When she was a preschooler she pretended to be a dog, cat, lion, horse, and you name it. She would sometimes not break "character" even during meals. It wasn't until my daughter was trying to pull her purse from the backseat of the car one afternoon that we realized she might have some identity issues. The purse seemed to be caught on something so she tried to pull harder. A little voice from the backseat said, "Hold on Mommy! It's caught on my hoof!"

Our First Customer

Springtime brings so many wonderful things and one that many people look forward to is the arrival of the hummingbirds. As the weather warms up it is so much fun to set up the feeders hoping to soon see those little beauties. A friend of mine had gotten her feeder ready with the help of her grandson. Soon he saw a pretty little hummingbird helping itself to the feeder. He called out to her, "Look! Our first customer!"

Get a JOB!

I love children when they get a simple concept that some adults struggle with all their lives. One day a student told me he had a GREAT IDEA! He was bursting with excitement and had the children around him excited too. What was it?

"When I grow up I am going to get a job! That way when I want something or need something I can buy it!" He was SO excited and was bouncing in his seat! I cheered for him while pumping my fist in the air. Sound silly to you? It better not because we sure need more like him that will understand the concept of working. We just took a few minutes and celebrated his great idea of getting a job.

As we were finishing up another boy said, "I think I will get a job too!" So guess what? We celebrated all over again. With kids cheering and me pumping my fist in the air. Great idea I told them. You guys are so smart! Before it was over we had celebrated all the children sitting at that table getting a job when they grow up!

Power to the people!

Playing house isn't what it used to be.

One day while monitoring the Kindergarten students at lunch time I overheard a group talking about "playing house". I decided I better listen up to what exactly they were planning. Each one had a role to play; Daddy, Step-mom, daughter, son and Mom. When I asked what they would do here is how they described a family. Sad and, sometimes, oh so true.

The Daddy did all the cooking. (This did NOT sound true to life to me but they all nodded their heads and agreed!) The Step-mom was the boss. I was told that SHE tells everyone what to do. The children did all the normal things and did what the Step-mom said to do. When I asked what the Mom did one little guy told me, "She stays home and is sad." To which they all nodded their heads and looked sad.

Not really a funny story today but one that gives a picture of how children today view family and family relationships.

Now Me Be Able to Leave the House!

This is a great time of the year to catch some great bargains on clothes. I went to Old Navy and founds some t-shirts for my grandson. Since he is just four years old I didn't really expect him to get THAT excited but he was! He held them up and was showing them to his mom. I had told him they were summer shirts because it is still too cold to wear t-shirts. In his excitement he kept getting louder and louder telling her, "These are me tummer tirts, tummer tirts! Now me be able to leave the house!" Guess he thought he would have to stay inside all summer!

Africa's Big Bowl

Over the course of a few weeks a second-grade student and I had discussed Africa. We had covered many wonderful things but the issue of children being hungry had, of course, stuck in his mind. He had asked me many questions about it. I sponsor a child from World Vision so he had been extremely interested to know if she was hungry. You never really know what a child is picturing in their mind or how they are processing what you are teaching!

One morning he became very serious and told me he had been thinking about the four thousand people in Africa and how they were hungry. He said, "I just keep thinking about those 4,000 people and the big bowl they eat out of. How they eat and there is not enough and some kids go home hungry." He was gesturing with his hand how they would eat out of the bowl. He held his arms up to show me the big bowl. He was not joking and was acting very sad. I asked him who told him there were four thousand? He said, "I just made that part up."

I really wasn't sure where to go with my teaching on this subject. I explained there was not one big bowl and that the people sometimes just need help to get their food. This is why we sponsor children and pray for other countries. I have to wonder what other topics we discuss and learn about that he sees something very different in his mind~