Kids Say

As I'm sure you know, I've been teaching before/after care at preschool this past week and will continue to do so until the school year is over next Friday. One of my favorite parts of teaching is listening to the things the kids say. Because as Bill Cosby used to say "kids say the darndest things". I decided to (every now and then) share a couple of the cutest, and most confusing, things that have been said to me so far because everyone needs a little laugh every now and then. (no names because I don't have permission from their parentals)

CJ - "Ms. Lisa ran away like a Gosselin."

Me - "You mean gosling? Like a baby goose."

CJ - "No! Gosselin, he wears a red hat and he ran away."

(She meant Jon Gosselin. How she knows who he is, I do not know.)

Gracie - "Emily, I'm allowed to kiss you because you're not just my teacher, you're my family."

A general note to everyone I know.

I WANT to live at home next year. Don't worry about finding me a place to live, I have one. Maybe next year we can talk about housing, apartments, and houses. Thanks.

Sorry, it just bugs me when everyone wants to know if I need help finding a house. Nope, I don't. I have one.

Plain Living

During nap this week I have been reading the book "Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World". Ever since my first visit to Amish County, PA I've been obsessed with the Amish way of life. It amazes me how happy and carefree they seem. The book I'm reading is not about how to become Plain. It's about how an English person can take simple steps to become more like a Plain person. It's actually am amazing book that every Christian, and non Christian, should read. Some of the steps, I can't take yet, because they have to do with marriage and children. But the ones about technology I can take. One thing I read that surprised me was that the Amish don't shun technology, they shun being overly attached to it.

They have a telephone in each community so they can make important calls. They let their sick use modern medicine. They use solar, wind, and water power to fuel their farm equipment. They just aren't attached to the technology they have. If something breaks, no big deal. They have another, simpler, way of doing whatever it is they need to do.

In order to become more Plain and less English, I bought a watch. It seems weird since the Plain aren't attached to time, but I know what I'm doing. By buying a watch, I can use it to tell time. (duh.) But it also means I don't need my phone with my 24/7. It never fails that when I look at my phone to see what time it is, I also check e-mail, facebook, etc. But if I look at my watch, I'll read the time and go on with life. Telling time, takes less time if that makes any sense.

Being Plain is just better. Better for health (Amish have a lower percentage of members with heart disease), better for family (there is no divorce), better for me.

Today I got my heart broken... By a 5 year old with blonde spikey hair. At snack time, he sat down at his assigned seat. I looked at his name card, saw his last name and immediately knew who he was. That's when the first rip in my heart started to happen. How could such a sweet boy have to be put through such a hard time? On the way to the playground I was holding his hand and I finally got the courage to ask him how his brother was. He smiled, held up one finger, and said "he has one left." That's when the next rip happened. I tried to smile and replied, "One more and the doctors will make him all better." Hoping I was right. The boy looked at his feet and whispered "He has cancer." It took all I had not to break down right then. All I could say was "I know and I'm praying."

A five year old shouldn't know what cancer is. They shouldn't have a brother who is fighting it. And they definitely shouldn't know how treatment works. I think I would be mad at God for this if I hadn't literally just finished the book Letters to God. It's about a boy with brain cancer who uses the short life he has to inspire others to follow God. Although I pray Nick's condition doesn't take the same route Tyler's did, I do pray he makes the same impact. Life is fragile. Bad things happen to good people. We just have to learn to have Faith. And pray.