Kindergarteners....

I help in Hyrum's kindergarten class once a week. Watching little kids is an interesting thing. It makes me wonder about their homes, their parents, what makes them tick. I am a people watcher by nature, so that is nothing new. I find it interesting though. I sometimes look at Hyrum in the mornings and catch him before he leaves the house in his favorite shirt that he's worn several times and has food stains from the night before. It's not from a lack of trying that he doesn't always look put together. For instance, I will brush his hair out, and then he will do some whacked out thing with water and hairspray and I feel like hiding my face for fear that people think I let him leave the house that way. :)I have no problem letting the kids express themselves...which is a long way from not letting the kids leave without being absolutely positively perfect. That's the way I used to be! I was just thinking what a slacker I am now. I used to always have the little girls prim, proper and perfect with a big bow on their heads. They had bows to match every outfit, hundreds of bows. Sometimes before church I would decide I wanted to do something different with their hair and have to make them a new bow. It made Thayne crazy!!! :) But my big girls have ruined my little girls. They like their hair 'poofed' or some other modern cool thing their big sister's do to their hair, or worse, gasp... they want to do it themselves!!! ACK!

So I really can't judge any of these sweet little kids by the matted hair in the back, because really, their parents probably did the best they could to assure that they walked out the door neat and put together....I hate to even mention that when I saw Hyrum in the class there was a faint 'hot chocolate moustache' left from the hot chocolate he snuck into after I cleaned up breakfast!!!

But some of these sweet little people truly seem to have to deal with a life much harder than they should have to at their age. A couple of them seem so unhappy. One little guy refuses to follow directions and then literally has a melt down, including ripping his papers. It's constant with him. It makes me want to bring him home and fill his life with all the love he can handle. There are so many insecurities in some of these kids. Some of them are so well adjusted and happy and willing to do all they can to accomplish their tasks. You can see a difference in the parents of those kids too. I guess I just have a soft spot for kids. And watching any kid struggle, watching any kid not be cherished makes me want to cry! I want to protect them all. I want to make every little person feel loved and cherished with the knowledge that they can accomplish anything they dare to dream!