Posts Tagged ‘“helping”’

I’m All Ears

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack’s teacher asked me to chaperone a field trip, and told her I’d love to. I arrived in the classroom several minutes early to make sure I received all the info I needed. When it was time, I helped get 19 third graders in a line and outside to the correct school bus, quietly.   Phew, that is not as easy as you think it might be. We arrived at the theatre, and filed into our seats. Local students put on “The Wizard of Oz” show for several local school districts. It was a great show, and the audience loved it.

Once the show was over, I did a head count of the kids I was responsible for and we lined up outside to get back on the bus. A sweet little girl, with big, beautiful brown eyes, grabbed my hand and asked if she could sit next to me on the bus. I told her that would be fine. Once I wrangled a few kids into their seats and shushed a few times, we were ready to head back to the school. I turned around in my seat, which I was sharing with Jack, and asked him about the play. He was busy talking to his friends and didn’t hear me. The sweet little girl who sat next to me quickly told me her feelings about the play. She also told me about her siblings who weren’t always nice, her wish to play basketball, her dream to go travel out of town, to enjoy an ice cream cone and a new pair of socks, and numerous other wishes that I realized were things my kids experience regularly. I felt for this little girl, as she didn’t stop talking to me the entire way back to school.

We arrived back to the school and into the classroom. As I was saying goodbye to Jack, this sweet little girl grabbed my hand again and thanked me for listening to her. She said it was so nice to speak with someone who actually listened to her. Although I felt sad for her, I was so happy to hear that just by listening and asking her some questions, it made her day. Honestly, it made my day, too. I know some kids are less fortunate than others, and to bring a smile to an otherwise sad person raised my spirits pretty high. Taking the time to listen can truly make a difference.

I wanna do it

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Andrew has a fiercely independent streak. It shouldn’t surprise me, given the personalities of his parents. But Andrew must say “I wanna do it” at least 50 times a day. He wants to get himself dinner. Pour his own drinks. Feed and change himself.

One of Andrew’s favorite activities is making pancakes on Sunday morning with hubby. Andrew sits down on the floor in front of the big blue bowl, armed with the whisk. Hubby measures out the ingredients and tries to help Andrew with the stirring. However, Andrew sees it as his job and wants to take care of the mixing all by himself. He happily flings batter around the kitchen as he tries to stir.

Andrew begrudgingly turns over the bowl to hubby and waits (impatiently) for the first set of pancakes. Then he happily chows down on the first batch and races back into the kitchen with his empty plate for more. Several times, until he’s full.

Last weekend, Andrew and daddy decided to make cupcakes as well. Andrew had to be the one to open the mix. Fortunately, he let us crack the eggs. He worked the whisk and did a fair job working out the lumps. Andrew happily placed all the cupcake liners in the tins. Of course, he HAD to be the one to fill the cups with batter. What a mess!

Andrew let me frost the cupcakes, but had to hand each one to me and put it back. We had to convince him not to lick each cupcake he got his hands on. When all the cupcakes were frosted, he coated them generously with sprinkles. And the floor. And himself. And us.

Andrew loved his cupcakes. He proudly told everyone that he made them himself. It was a total mess, but sometimes you have to get a little messy to have a great time.