Coffee and Champagne

5 year old : "Ms. Miller, you are so lucky you get to drink hot cocoa during lunch"

Me: "I think I'll have hot coffee today"

6 year old: "Ms. Miller, i think you should have champagne instead"

Some days in your life call for coffee.  The days where you need something warm, some motivation, or perhaps a quick jolt.  They may be the days you don't want to get out of bed, or the weather is telling you it is alright to wear your pj's all day long.  Those are the days you need coffee...

Some days in your life call for champagne.  They may be the days where you are celebrating; a special event, or a special person.  They are the days where you put on a beautiful dress and a fun pair of heels and toast to the special something.  Those are the days you need champagne...

Some days in your life call for coffee and some call for champagne.

When all else fails, drink both!

Perspective

"Ms. Miller, did you know a U looks like a smile?"

Sometimes it is not about what life throws our way, but rather the way we look at them.  

For years, kids have been telling me about all the things they see around them.  Many remind me that mundane things around us, we once in fact, new to each of us.  So the next time to need a friendly smile to help you see the positive side of life...look for the letter U!

Rules For Life

Wisdom from 5 year olds...

Me: "Can anyone tell me a rule we have at school?"

5 year old: "The only 2 rules you ever need are Try hard and Have fun."

Me: "Who told you those - I love them!"

5 year old: "My mind told them to me."

This same little guy came back to me the next day and said 
"Ms. Miller, there is one more rule.   You have to be nice to other people."

We live in a world filled with rules of every kind; laws, guidelines, requirements, standards, and regulations.  These rules might be designed to maintain order, create procedures and process but if we for just one moment took the advice of a wise boy, who's years can be counted on one hand, we might find ourselves in a better place.  Plain and simply we all need to

TRY HARD
HAVE FUN
BE NICE TO OTHERS

Perhaps with this first rule,we could all be living in a world where we put forth our best foot forward each day.  A world where hard work and effort are admired and rewarded.  Where we teach the next generation that life is not about where you come from or who you know but rather who you are and what you do.

The second rule may in fact seem like the easiest rule to follow, because who among us does not like to have fun!?  But, far too often, I hear those around me anxiously waiting for their children to outgrow a difficult age, teenagers eager to grow up, so many waiting for better weather, a better job, or a better life.  We wait for change and growth, time and money, often forgetting to look for the fun that surrounds us each day.  If we all began to search for even the smallest moment of fun in a day, we would begin to fill our days with smiles, laughter and joy!

The final rule this little guy told me might in fact be my favorite.  Perhaps it is the teacher in me or maybe it is just the human being in me, but being nice to others is one of the most basic rules we all learn.  As a child, we all learned it.  We learned it at home and school, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, in church or temple and it has been said a thousand different ways in many languages.  Be Kind.  That simple sentences, consisting of only 2 words means so much.  This might be the answer to problems all over the world.  In politics, religion, and well life, being kind to others is always the best choice.

So tomorrow when you open your eyes to a new day, make your self a promise to try hard, giving you best all day long.  Look for the fun during your day in small moments and big ones and don't settle for a single day with out fun!  And most of all vow to be kind to those around you.  If you can do all three of these in one day, I can assure you that your day will be more like that of a 5 year old, and maybe even just a little bit better than your last!

The Beginning

For the past 5 years, I have shared quotes from my days in kindergarten with my friends and family in the digital world.  Some have made people laugh, some have shown the wisdom in children far beyond their years, but all have come from the young, honest, and wonderful minds of children.  

When I first began teaching I received the wise advice to write down the stories, quotes, and things that not only made me smile, but helped me remember some of the greatest benefits of teaching --the kids!  I began to record the things my students said, Writing them down after school, when the silence of an empty classroom set in.  I followed each quote with the child who said it, believing that to truly understand and find the nugget of humor or truth or innocence, you had to know the child who said it.  I held these moments in my classroom and in my heart, believing that while they filled me with joy, those outside of education might not see the value in them.  

It was during my calls home to my parents, when I would tell them the things I heard from my students each day that I thought perhaps children know no boundaries.  The words they say and the things they do make even the darkest hearts smile.  So I began to share a little quote or perhaps a drawing, summing up small moments in our big world.  
My family and friends began to comment on how much joy and humor these small moments brought them.  And so in an effort to spread joy an humor, I bring you the all the wisdom I have gathered from 5 year olds...