18 Nov Sand in the eyes only hurts for a minute
My son is going to a new preschool here in town. It is an incredible please – co-op. The parents work a 1/2 day a week. I love it.
At 11am we go outside to a public park surrounded by gates. The kids play hard. My son learned to climb up a chain ladder and go down the slide by himself as I watched with astonishment.
One of the little boys, I’ll call him Harry, is about 3 and a half. He has twin brothers about 1 and a half. Harry is awesome. I just love the kid.
He was playing with his best friend. A little girl, not a part of the preschool, was there with her grandmother. it is a public park.
Harry threw sand in the little girls face. She cried. I ran over to console her. Grandmother freaked out. She started yelling at Harry telling him he was a bad boy. A bad boy. She must have said it 10 times.
I got on my knees in front of Harry and asked him to look me in the eye. Harry, what you did was bad behavior. Throwing sand hurts and it is not okay. You listen to me. You are a good boy. You are good. I see you. I see how good you are. What you just did is NOT like you. THis isn’t how you are. How can I help you not do this again.
His little lip was trembling. He hugged me. He looked at the little girl and said he was sorry. He said he was sorry to the grandmother.
The grandmother told me that my way of doing things was a little odd. She remembered fondly the days of spanking.
Later that day, Harry would look over at me as he considered doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Sometimes he still threw the sand – and most of the time he stopped.
It got me thinking. We give out Halloween candy like it is vitamins. We hand out stuff that rots the teeth, contributes to diabetes… has no nutritional value. I wonder if each child got a pat on the head and a positive comment .. every day.. to fill their little halloween bag inside their being with what is beautiful about them.
If we did this- I am certain we would have less people in prison. Less suicide. Less fear.
Typecasting happens very early. Kids believe was we say about them. It can cause hurt that lasts a lifetime.
It is the job of every adult on the planet to help kids, even kids who are 50 years old, find their divine spark.
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