One of the marvelous parts of my day is getting to teach four 'struggling to read' first graders how to read. Already they are teaching me.
In order to target the most needy children I gave about 15 'at risk' children a battery of tests in order to assess who struggled most.
In the course of his testing, I asked little toe-headed Ozzy, "Can you find a capital letter on this page?"
Ozzy's forehead wrinkled as he studied the page before him. His lips were pursed as he carefully thought.
Then with the most honest, angelic and innocent look on his face, he looked up and said, "I haven't learned that yet."
How precious!
Instead of saying, "I don't know," "Beats me," or "I could care less." He chose to say "I haven't learned that yet."
I thought about that phrase all day. I loved it. Why? I think because it showed no sense of guilt or embarrassment, but rather hope...that someday he would learn it. It showed that not knowing today was o.k.
Little did I know how useful that phrase would be. As I came home from work and pulled into our driveway, I immediately thought 'Wow, our new roof's looking fabulous. The men of our church got alot done in just one day!'
As I walked into the kitchen, my husband immediately asked, "Where did you park?"
Confused by his obvious concern, I flippantly said, "In the driveway, where else?"
I could tell that didn't go over so great.
"You parked where? Did you not realize the men are still roofing?" (I'm sure my look wasn't nearly as innocent as Ozzy's at this point.)
"Lisa, you're going to get a flat tire. There's nails all around the house. Why didn't you park at the church?"
"Nails all around? I didn't know roofs are put on with nails."
Bobby looked at me like I had just crawled out of the movie "Dumb and Dumber."
"Lisa! You've got to be kidding me!"
Then I said it. I said Ozzy's line.
"I haven't learned that yet. I've never roofed or been on a roof with a roofer."
A hush fell over the room. Bobby just shook his head and walked away. Not another word was said.
Now, I'm not advocating that every arguement be solved with Ozzy's little phrase. But wouldn't that be wonderful? Even better than Jack's 5 magic beans...and the treasures they brought.
I'm just saying it's o.k. if you haven't learned that yet.
Isn't that what life's about?
In order to target the most needy children I gave about 15 'at risk' children a battery of tests in order to assess who struggled most.
In the course of his testing, I asked little toe-headed Ozzy, "Can you find a capital letter on this page?"
Ozzy's forehead wrinkled as he studied the page before him. His lips were pursed as he carefully thought.
Then with the most honest, angelic and innocent look on his face, he looked up and said, "I haven't learned that yet."
How precious!
Instead of saying, "I don't know," "Beats me," or "I could care less." He chose to say "I haven't learned that yet."
I thought about that phrase all day. I loved it. Why? I think because it showed no sense of guilt or embarrassment, but rather hope...that someday he would learn it. It showed that not knowing today was o.k.
Little did I know how useful that phrase would be. As I came home from work and pulled into our driveway, I immediately thought 'Wow, our new roof's looking fabulous. The men of our church got alot done in just one day!'
As I walked into the kitchen, my husband immediately asked, "Where did you park?"
Confused by his obvious concern, I flippantly said, "In the driveway, where else?"
I could tell that didn't go over so great.
"You parked where? Did you not realize the men are still roofing?" (I'm sure my look wasn't nearly as innocent as Ozzy's at this point.)
"Lisa, you're going to get a flat tire. There's nails all around the house. Why didn't you park at the church?"
"Nails all around? I didn't know roofs are put on with nails."
Bobby looked at me like I had just crawled out of the movie "Dumb and Dumber."
"Lisa! You've got to be kidding me!"
Then I said it. I said Ozzy's line.
"I haven't learned that yet. I've never roofed or been on a roof with a roofer."
A hush fell over the room. Bobby just shook his head and walked away. Not another word was said.
Now, I'm not advocating that every arguement be solved with Ozzy's little phrase. But wouldn't that be wonderful? Even better than Jack's 5 magic beans...and the treasures they brought.
I'm just saying it's o.k. if you haven't learned that yet.
Isn't that what life's about?
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