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previous ~ ~ ~ next I wrote this initially as an e-mail. It's 11:30 pm and I should be in bed and I haven't polished it up. Sorry, but, at least it's a post here, right??? So... last night at Alpha there was this really cool moment. We have a girl who comes every week, D, who is in 2nd grade and 7 1/2 years old. She's overall a pretty sweet kid. She is sometimes careless (as in, not being terribly careful where she steps when we have an 18 month old in there... probably more a function of unfamiliarity than anything else as she's the baby of the family) with the younger kids, but never mean. We have another girl, L, who is 10 and in 5th grade. She's only come once or twice before and we've had almost-issues with her... crossing the line in being too bossy, being selfish/greedy or refusing to share... that sort of thing. Nothing very serious or drastic, but enough to make me a bit wary of her... and not be comfortable with her around the littlest ones. Anyway, last night, L really crossed the line in her behavior toward D. She was making snide comments off and on throughout the evening, and I'd reprimand her when I heard it. When we were doing the story (a BIBLE story, for goodness' sake!!), D was moving around a little on her carpet and had knelt and then leaned forward. L made a rude comment about D's butt and I was just furious! She's 7 years old! She should not have to start worrying about how other people perceive her body yet! Argh!!! I was so mad!! Fortunately, D didn't hear it (I hope). I immediately told L that what she said was extremely unkind and absolutely inappropriate. D asked what she said, and I said it didn't matter because it shouldn't have been said in the first place (while looking very sternly at L) and it wouldn't be repeated. D shrugged it off, but L kept doing unkind things to her the rest of the evening... when we were painting and L had dirtied her water to black sludge, she tried to clean her brush off in D's water because it was still pretty clean. Except she tried to do it in such a way that it would make D's water extremely dirty. Things like that. But the really amazing thing? Even though it was blatantly obvious that L was spoiling for a fight of some sort and deliberately provoking D (or maybe me, I'm not entirely sure, to be honest)... D not only kept her cool, not only ignored the rude comments and inappropriate actions... SHE WAS NICE BACK TO HER!!!! That, THAT is the most amazingly Christian behavior I've witnessed in quite a while. Because you know what? That is HARD! So, when L's dad came to pick her up, I gave him the quick overview; he seemed very upset and said he'd talk to her. He said something to the effect that she was going through "a stage" and they hoped she'd grow out of this one in a hurry, because they were pretty fed up. But the best part of the night? When D was getting ready to go, I sent home the extra paints with her (I'd put some of each color in small containers, and mixed several colors with the silver glitter to make the sparkly, so there were... oh, I think 24 little cups of paint), kind of as a reward, although I didn't say anything to that effect. What I did say, after she'd gathered up all her stuff (and I made sure it was in front of her dad, so he could hear) was that I just wanted to tell her how proud I was of her. I told her that I had seen L be unkind to her all night, and that, instead of being unkind back, that I'd seen her do nice things in return. I told her that I knew that was a hard thing to do, and that I was very proud of her. Some nights? It's the most awesome job in the world to be a teacher. How many days until finals? 53. I find out my registration date, soon, but it's probably November 26th!!! Whoo! What was one good thing that happened today? Um... we're not going to talk about that right now. Miscellaney: I have one of the most awesome kids in the world in my class!!! Tell me what you think. solemne :: solemne's Site �::solemne's Comment(s)�:: that's awesome. I can't wait until I get to be a teacher.. oh yeah, umm...I'm going to be a teacher now. I wonder if i ever told you about that. [2004-11-13 02:48:07] Whoo-Hoo! It's started!!! ~ ~ ~ Deliberation Most recent: The REAL surprise party - Monday, Jul. 11, 2005 Still not here - Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2005 Moved - Thursday, Jun. 30, 2005 I survived - Thursday, Jun. 23, 2005 Go see her. Now. - Thursday, Jun. 02, 2005 |
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