Category Archives: Little Historians

In Which I Am Proven Wrong

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Like the new header? Jacki did it! Thanks, Jack. =)
Yesterday Joe and I really had a good time together. He’s been sick but just started to get to feel better, so he was in a silly mood (as was I, and I have no excuse). I really enjoy when I get to connect with the kids I’m around.
Joe had this interesting looking gum (I actually thought it was a matchbook when I first saw it) called 5. He says they call it that because the taste lasts for 5 hours. Always the skeptic, I had to try it, though it was probably my first piece of gum in at least 6 months. It was cinnamon flavored, and my first comment was that is was much weaker than Big Red, a favorite of mine from my gum-chewing days.
After about 10 minutes of chewing, I realized that the flavor was getting stronger, not weaker. It was like it was accumulating on my tongue. This continued until I couldn’t take chewing it any longer…after 30 minutes. I can almost assure you I haven’t chewed a piece of gum that long in 15 years.
It was still flavorful when I spit it out, so I was unable to discredit the 5 hour theory. It actually was a semi-enjoyable experience, but most of all I welcomed the opportunity to bond with Joe over a piece of gum!

Works for Me: Middle Name Game

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Here’s a simple game that I came up with to work with children who are starting to learn to read and can be played anytime anywhere. No materials are required.
The easiest way to teach it is to give you an example. Assume your name is Norma Jean and the child’s name is Billy Ray. Every time you say a word that starts with J (because your middle name starts with J), that becomes your new middle name.
If you say, “I saw a kangaroo jump outside our window,” your new “name” is Norma Jump. If Billy says, “I hope it rains today!” his new “name” is Billy Rains. Every time you say a word that starts with the letter J or Billy says a word that starts with the letter R, your middle name changes respectively.
Anyone can point out the new middle names, and it will work with several children. As they start to think about what they and others are saying, they will pick up on more and more name changes. The kids I played this with got a real kick out of it, and the 1st grader would intentionally use words in a sentence that she wanted her name to be.
Sounds simple, but this silly game works for me!
For past Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas:

Who Needs the Tooth Fairy, Anyway?

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I don’t do loose teeth. I’m not a mom, so I feel I have the right to pick and choose which gross bodily things I have to deal with.

If a kid starts wiggling his tooth in front of me, I tell him to stop and do that at home. I don’t need to see that, and I have no plans on helping him out once it falls out.

Today, 10-year-0ld Joe stopped practicing piano and headed over to the mirror to take a look at his tooth that was bothering him. Jokingly, I said, “It’s not going to fall out, is it?”

Yep, that’s exactly what it did. And it turns out, Joe doesn’t like blood. Or saliva. He started to freak out about the amount of blood that was coming from his mouth, and kept spitting it all over the sinks.

Finally, I convinced him to rinse out his mouth in order to get the “nasty” blood taste out of his mouth. (Personally, the taste doesn’t bother me…but I also liked the taste of pennies and nickels when I was a kid)

I jokingly said, “I don’t know how you’re going to get your wisdom teeth out.” Oops. Why did I say anything? I told him that maybe he won’t have to, maybe he has a big mouth. I had just revealed that I did!

This is exactly why I don’t let the kids at church wiggle their teeth!

Big Girls Don’t Cry?

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I know this a title of a recent Fergie song, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I can’t comment on it since I really don’t know what the song’s about. (I just ended both of those sentences with prepositions…yes!)

Last night I was babysitting for some dear friends. Shortly after putting her to bed, their 7-year-old daughter, “Abby,” came out and clearly had been crying.

After I made her younger brother go back to bed (who had to check out why his sister was not in her bed when he had to be), I asked her what was the matter. After I asked her twice, she said, “Oh, all right,” and settled in on my lap.

Abby went on to tell me that she was crying for her mom and dad, but was embarrassed because she’s 7 and shouldn’t cry. After all, big girls don’t cry.

I assured her that even adults cry, and that I cry all the time. (Okay, maybe not ALL the time, but that’s not the point.) I assured her that it’s okay to cry, as long as you aren’t doing it for the wrong reasons, like to get what you want or out of selfishness.

This is a lesson I’ve had to teach myself in the last 6 or 7 years. I didn’t use to want to cry because it showed weakness. Guess what, I am weak. That’s why I need a strong Savior.

Actually, I cry because I’m an emotional creature. That’s how God created me. As a woman, I’m particularly sensitive to the suffering of others. Most often, I cry because someone else is crying, or they are sharing with me their hurt.

Do big girls cry? Yes, this one does. And I’m okay with that.

Works for Me: Encouraging Others

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My question is below, but first I have to share that I just realized that I’ve already broken my “resolution lite.” It’s a good thing that I didn’t make an all out commitment to do it. I now know that I MUST take my camera with me everywhere, because at the end of the year, I really don’t want 366 pictures of my room. Or 365, since I skipped the 7th.
Today is a backwards Works-for-Me Wednesday, so I get the opportunity to ask you a question. I’ve mulled over what to ask, and have finally come up with something that I would like help with. (Is it worse to end a paragraph with a preposition than to end a sentence with one?)
One verse in the Bible that I really enjoy is Hebrews 3:13. “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
I’m seeking to try to be an encouragement to those around me, whether young or old, male or female, Christian or non-Christian.
I tend to get in a rut when trying to encourage others by encouraging them in the exact way that I find the most encouraging: by writing encouraging notes and letters. I still want to do this, but I also want to branch out into other ways of encouragement.
If I were trying to encourage you, what would be the best way to go about that? If I were trying to encourage your child, how would I do that? What has someone done for you in the past that has been the most encouraging?
Thanks for any advice you can give on this point!
For answers (not questions) visit my past Works-for-me posts:

Kids and What They Do to My Brain

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A few weeks ago, I was helping the kindergarteners review what we had learned so far in Sunday school by playing a game. One of the questions I asked was, “What kind of sacrifice did Abel make to God?”
After consulting one another (which I made them do), Boy-without-a-speech-impediment said, “Seep.”
When I asked him to repeat his answer, Boy-with-a-slight-speech-impediment said, “Seep.”
Clearly Boy-without didn’t know what “seep” were, so he just repeated what Boy-with said. How many times have we tried to pass for knowing the right answer by doing that?

A couple of days later, I woke up at 6:15 after only a little sleep to an alarm going off. I assumed that it was one of my roommates, but they never woke up for it. Most likely, it was in the living room and they had forgot to bring in back to their bedroom, so I contemplated trying to find the alarm to see whose it was and go wake them up.

Somehow, in sleepily contemplating this, the alarm gave up and so did I.

Seven minutes later, the alarm goes off again. I figured this was a good time to check on it since I felt guilty about not doing it the first time. That’s when I realized that it was MY alarm…on my palm pilot…that must have been set by the kids playing on it the night before.

I’m sure that it was unintentional, right?

“It Ate Its Butt!”

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Warning: do not read this post while consuming anything you want to enjoy. Do not read this post while consuming anything that isn’t enjoyable at all, but you are eating anyway. Warning over.

The other day, I walked to school to pick up Joe and Bob as usual. As I rounded the corner to get on the sidewalk, a special treat greeted me.

It was a rabbit, with its coat still wet from the rain earlier in the day, lying there dead in the middle of the sidewalk.

And it had a huge bite out of its rear end.

Now, Joe and Bob are by no means immature for their ages, but they are 10-year-old and 8-year-old boys. Knowing how boys are, I expected they would want to touch, kick, poke, and prod the poor used-to-be bunny. As we started on our way back home, I prepared them for what they would see. I told them they would have to act more mature than they are. I told them they could look but had to keep walking.

I was very impressed by the way they handled it. When they saw it, they oohed and aahed rubbernecking a little, but they kept walking. And then they proceeded to tell the whole neighborhood the detail that I had left out, “It ate its butt!”

Yes, Joe and Bob yelled at the top of their lungs the rest of the way home, “It ate its butt!” When we ran into another babysitter and her boyfriend, they promptly told them, “It ate its butt!”

When I walked that same sidewalk the next week, I was happy to see that there was no sign of that poor bunny that didn’t have a bunnytail. I guess the animal that had him for a snack came back for his dinner.

NaBloPoMo, Day 29 (one more day to go!)

Forgetfulness is Contagious

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On Tuesdays and Thursday I babysit for two boys whom I will call Joe and Bob, who are in 5th and 2nd grades respectively. On Thursdays we go to piano practice and then to Bob’s football practice.

This week, since Joe wasn’t ready for piano practice, I had him practice piano when he usually does his homework, knowing that he could do his homework while we were at Bob’s practice.

On our way to piano practice, I realized that Joe had forgotten to bring his homework with him. No problem, we’ll just swing by real fast and pick it up on the way to football. When we did, however, Joe realized that his homework was actually left at school. Oops.

When we go to football practice, Joe takes the piano books with him since the boys’ mother picks them up from there. Bob had given his books to Joe to carry, but Joe had thought they were his. Once we had finished the 5-minute walk to the practice field, I asked Joe where his books were.

“Oh, I guess they are in the car.”

So we walked back to the car.

After Joe got the book out of my car, he gave it to me, and I carried it back to the practice field. Once we got to the field, I realized that he only had one of his two books.

“Joe, where’s your other book?”

“I don’t know…”

Yep, he had left it at piano practice. In his defense, Joe is no less responsible than any other 5th grader I know. This just wasn’t his day.

Fast forward two days to Saturday. As I was sitting down to do some reading for my ethics class, I couldn’t find my book anywhere. The last place I remembered seeing it was…at football practice. I left my book at football practice!

I guess I’m not immune from a forgetful day.

Ronnica
NaBloPoMo, Day 5

Pride and Power Camp

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I’m polished, organized, and in control. I am smart and funny, and have something to add to any conversation. I can handle any situation that comes up with poise and wit. Everything in my life is structured and follows according to my plan. I always know the right thing to say and do.

Or at least that’s how I want to come across. Lately though, God has been showing me that this is a matter of pride. Through teaching at church both Sunday morning and night and in personal time in God’s Word, the Bible, this has been the overarching theme that God has been making very clear to me. I need Him every moment of everyday, because I truthfully do not know what to say and do in every circumstance. Any “natural” ability I may have was already given by my Creator, and He is constantly providing me with spiritual help where I lack. I need His grace to handle every minute in a way that is honoring to Him.

This week I’m helping out with Power Camp, a sports camp put together by the FCA and my church. I’m responsible for leading the devotions for a group of about 15 children entering the 4th-7th grades, almost exclusively from the community. Because of work, I am only with the kids for the second half of camp, so I was quite frazzled yesterday as I tried to figure out how to handle it. This is certainly a situation where I need to rely on God for wisdom and patience, strength and boldness.

Please pray for these children that God would be working in their hearts. They have a great opportunity to hear the Gospel, study the Word, and interact personally with believers. There’s a good chance that some of these children have never been able to do any of those things before. I would also appreciate prayers for me that God would give me the words to say and the patience to show Christ’s love for them.

Tidbits

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Last night at Awana, I only had one of my five girls. When I was asking her about what sections she was ready to pass, she in turn asked me how many I would pass (I have a leader version of their book). When I told her 4 sections, she told me to work on a fifth, just like I always tell them to be working on one more. I guess it’s really sinking in.

My big theology paper is due tomorrow. It’ll be good to have it over since it’s the biggest thing I have all semester.

I’ll be heading overseas in 11 days! I’m getting excited…