Posted on 12/18/2001 6:23:36 AM PST by SAMWolf
I am a huge advocate of parents getting into their children's schools on a regular basis. As a stay-at-home mom, I am able to assist in my daughters' classrooms each week. Whether helping with art projects, reading or spelling, it keeps me connected and allows me direct insight into my girls' day-to-day lives. It also affords me the opportunity to connect with other children. And connect I do. The hugs and openness with which I am greeted are huge indicators that I have broken through that Grown-up/Child barrier.
It could be that when I go into the school, I don't dress like an authority figure. You won't find me wearing Chinos, skirts, loafers, untouchable hair or any other spiffy adult attire. Instead, look for the person clad in sweatpants or jeans, a comfy sweater and a baseball cap . . . always a baseball cap. I come prepared to hug, get dirty on the playground and sweep the floor with my butt during reading circle. I also come with enough hugs to go around, twice. As a result, I have been granted access into the Inner Sanctum of the Schoolyard.
Last week while working on an art project with a rotating group of kids we talked about music, movies, swear words, parents, the holidays. As talk turned to what they hoped would be under their tree for Christmas or part of their Hannukah 7 Day Gift Haul, I decided to take advantage of my "non-threatening" status and pose the question: "Name one thing you would like your Mom or Dad to give you this season that would not cost a penny." You could have heard that penny hit the floor as silence enveloped them, and their young minds went to work. As they each took turns answering, I was moved to tears by their candor, their honesty and in some cases the heartbreaking realities revealed in their words.
It is my holiday gift to you all that I share what your kids REALLY want this year. And no, a Play Station 2 is nowhere on the lists of their hearts.
Listen To Me Please: At the top of their lists is for we parents to stop being so busy all the time and just listen to them talk. I know I have been guilty of this one. God knows, we really are not interested in hearing about the latest unpronounceable character in their Harry Potter books, but we need to stop, look them in the eye, and listen. If we don't, they will simply stop trying. And we all know that the teenage days will come when they won't want to discuss anything with us, be it Harry Potter or their newly hairy pits.
Teach Me To Cook: I was surprised by this request, but when I pressed for an explanation, it quickly became clear. We are raising a generation of Microwave Kids. They know how to use every button on the magic box, but have no idea how to simmer, bake or boil. Granted, there is great messiness in allowing your youngsters to cook with you, but take it from me, some of my happiest memories are in the kitchen with my Mom, dusted with flour and smudged with love.
Please Stop Smoking: One child spoke this wish and it was quickly echoed by many others. They have seen enough commercials to be truly concerned about your health and their own, but it goes a bit further than that. One young girl pulled me aside and whispered her reason in my ear, "The other kids say I always smell bad." I hugged her close and bent to kiss her head and she was right. Her hair did not smell of Johnson & Johnson's, but of Benson & Hedges. Not her choice and certainly not fair.
Stop Being So Busy All The Time: If guilt were a color, I would have been painted with it when I heard this one. How many of us use the phrase, "Just a minute . . ." or "Hold on . . ." too much? Personally, there have been too many times I have looked up after "just a minute" to find my child has given up waiting and is gone.
Read To Me: We tend to think that once a child can read, our job is done. Actually, these children expressed a desire to have Mom or Dad read a chapter book TO them each night. And while they would really enjoy the reading, it leads to a deeper desire . . . the other request that made me choke back a tear . . .
Hug Me More: I experience these children each week when I enter the classrooms. They cling to me tighter than a wet pair of Levi's. They are the ones that are not getting enough hugs and snuggling and attention at home. For them, I hug them not once, not twice, but as much and as long as they need. So while you are running around doing that last minute shopping, add some of these items to your own child's list. Rich or poor, they are all things that cost not a dime and we all have in endless supply. We just have to stop and open our arms and hearts a little wider.
It's good to be reminded of obvious things because even the obvious sometimes gets lost in life.
I don't consider this article a *do-gooder forcing what we should do* on others. I see it as an important reminder to value those things that are most important. Our kiddos are most important..the time we spend with them is priceless.
Now sit down and eat your peas, hon. They're getting cold. ;o)
Yes they do. You just can't smell it.
I've taught school and kids whose parents smoke smell. Period. You don't have to go to their house to smell it.......that is unless their clothes and hair are fumigated before they leave home.
Are you quite sure that it was the Lord giving you the directive?
I think it's something to do with the brand - I started stuffing my own this past summer
Well, you sanctimonious little nosy pri*k. The nerve of a**holes like you and the twerp above telling me my kids "smell like smoke because I smoke". You haven't the slightest freakin' clue what you're talking about, you've never met me, you've never met any of my kids, you've never set foot within 100 miles of my home. You don't know how I smoke, where I smoke, their proximity to that smoke, their bathing habits, our laundry habits........nothing.
Who in God's name told you that you had the right to talk to me that way???
Get bent. Take your little friend above with you.
No way, peas are yucky! Now Spinach is the good stuff! 8)
I don't have a problem with the notion of remembering the little things that sometimes get pushed aside in our busy lives. However, I do take objection with the way this article was written to make it appear to be something it really isn't. I don't like the notion of some adult manipulating children into giving conditional answers, in order to make her point. While the article might be "cutsie" to some, I find that sort of thing disgusting for any adult to do.
Actually that was me driving by with Mr. Microphone, but don't tell them.
And I think she gave herself away when she mentioned the Playstation. She forgot her own instructions.
And I still think she talks about herself more than was nessessary at the beginning.
Good idea...bad presentation.
Lighten up. Smoking stinks. It's a fact. You're free to do it whenever, and wherever you like.
It's still a nasty habit, and it smells.
Now go call someone else names. I am unaffected by your abject rudeness. Have a nice day.
Thanks for reminding me. I've updated it to something more season appropriate.
Time to go play catch.
I will meticulously follow the letter of JimRob's posted laws around here, and you're go**amned lucky. Let me just tell you plainly to f**k yourself.
I have a reasonably long fuse, but you burned it up quick. Stay out of my way 'round here from now on.
How in the world have you avoided child molestation charges with all that hugging? In many schools an adult can't so much as touch a student without a law suit on the horizon.
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