An Education in Lifes Lessons From an Early Childhood Educator

 “It is more easy to be wise for others than for ourselves.”

~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

I often used stories to get a point across to kids. My parent’s did it to me…worked like a charm, by the way.
I do it now, but sometimes it backfires…an ‘in your face backfire’. It just goes to show that kids are really listening when we big people speak.
I was a newbie teacher…I’ll use that excuse, I guess, and a perky three-year-old wanted to carry in a tray of cupcakes for me from the kitchen. It was rather heavy and I didn’t have the heart to tell Alana, ‘no’.
Instead, I told her a story about how I dropped a cake when I was in the kitchen…a great parable-I thought, and how my mom was really disappointed and couldn’t make another one until the next day.
Alana listened intently and her bright blue eyes got very big.
“You understand why I am telling you this now don’t you, Alana?”
“Oh…oh, yes, Ms Barbra…I do, I do!” She said nodding her head up and down.
“Good.” (Point made-I thought smiling to myself picking up the cupcakes)
Immediately Alana reached for the tray of cupcakes trying to take them from me.
“Alana! What are you doing?” We began to struggle for the tray.
“Ms. Barbra…let go…..you drop stuff, you even said so!”