Be Careful What You Ask For

     I wanted personality. I wanted a group that would give me lots to write about. I wanted a group that would make my day interesting. And God gave it to me. It was not exactly what I expected, but I guess I did not get specific in my request. I have learned, or thought I'd learned, that I always need to let the Lord know exactly what I am looking for because He has a sense of humor that keeps me scratching my head. Maybe it is not humor at all, but His great  knowledge and wisdom to show me the areas where I need to continue to grow in Him and see my need for His help every day. Well, whatever it was, I soon found out I was the kindergarten teacher of five beautiful girls, with a set of twins thrown in the mix, and two little boys, one who only speaks Spanish. Now, I failed at Spanish. I took it when I was homeschooling and had such poor quality cassette tapes to learn from. It was impossible to make out sounds and pronunciations from the muttered garbled words on them. We tried to hire a Spanish tutor to help, but it was wintertime in Vermont and I think he got discouraged after getting stuck in our driveway and we had to push him out. My limited Spanish is aqua, el bano, and bien, so at least the poor little guy can get a drink, use the bathroom, and know he is doing well. He is a well behaved boy so I have no complaints. It will just take time for him to learn. He is young so he will pick it up quickly....I hope. That is a specific prayer request. ☺
     My girls are drama queens...quick to show they are clearly upset with a situation, and want the world to know. I never know what they are going to say next. The other day during lunch one of the girls saw me give Benny some money to go buy something in the lunchroom. She came over to me and looked at me with those pretty little eyes and asked, "Can I have some money too?" 
I explained to her that Benny was my little boy and that I did not have enough money to buy everyone in the class something. Without hesitating a moment she put out her hand and replied, "Oh, you won't buy it for me. Just put the money in my hand and I will go and buy it." 
     Another time at lunch the twin of that first little girl was eating Mac N Cheese. Now, what little child does not like to eat macaroni and cheese? She was sitting there eating when I heard her say to no one in particular, "This is tasty Mac N Cheese." There was a slight pause and then she continued, "I don't like tasty Mac N Cheese."
     One last lunchroom funny:  again, one of the twins was all excited to know that Pastor Wilson was giving everyone in the school leftover popsicles and ice cream sandwiches from an event over the summer. They had to use the items up so they would not get covered in protective ice inside the cafeteria freezer. When I asked her what she wanted to quickly told me she would take an ice cream sandwich. She sat down and devoured her treat as the other students in my class all ate popsicles. When she finished, she showed me the empty wrapper and went off to throw it away. She came back to me with that look on her face and told me, "I changed my mind. I don't want an ice cream sandwich. I want a popsicle instead."
     And that is just lunchroom stories....it goes on and on throughout the day. At playtime, "she's not my friend today and my heart is just broken!" During lessons, "I can't do it! I don't know HOW to draw a flower!" And storytime is full of crazy children with a sugar rush from lunch that makes them giggle and can't sit still for two seconds at a time. The poor little Spanish boy falls asleep every afternoon at story time though. I must be too boring for him to listen to...I put him to sleep every time.   
     I was glancing through my lessons for tomorrow when I noticed it was the one where I was to teach the children how to use the phone properly, and what 911 was all about. I had a quick flashback in my mind to last year, when I dutifully taught my class about 911 and how we were to only use it for emergencies. It was never to be dialed unless someone needed help and there was nobody else around to do it for them. I made sure the entire class understood and moved on to our next subject. It got back to me a few weeks later that one of the boys in my class had been alone on the house, or at least he thought he was alone. He did not realize his older brothers were outside working and he heard some noises that caused him to panic. He quickly picked up the phone and dialed 911, telling the person on the other end he was all alone and scared. After he hung up he quickly hid in the closet, not sure what to expect. A little while later a police car showed up and the office began searching the house for the little boy, still hiding in the closet. It all ended okay after finding out it was a misunderstanding of the situation, but I could not help feeling a bit guilty of what happened. If I had not taught that then it might not have happened and the mother would not have been embarrassed by it all.  Either way, as I looked at the lesson plan for tomorrow's lesson I firmly shook my head. "I will not be teaching this class how to dial 911 tomorrow. Uh uh. No way. Maybe in a few months they will be ready to hear it, but for now, I will stick to teaching them how to draw flowers. And how to be friends. And how not to make my hair get any more grayer...." Yes, my class is a blessing. Thank the Lord for allowing me to see the lighter side of K5 because dear readers, these children are our future. And I pray, specifically, that I can be a light in their little lives, help them grow a foundation that will set them on the right path of loving and serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a blessed day.