Advice from a first grader

People smile when I say I'm working on how to live my life as a five or six year old; but honestly, I must say, as long as I've been teaching, their advice seems simple.  For example, if you were to ask them, they're an expert at everything!  Once when I was doing Shakespeare, I had the kids draw portraits of him and hung them in the hall.  Someone walked by and said, "How did they do that?"  I quickly replied, "because no one told them they couldn't."  How nice it would be if we all had that feeling of being able to know we had the ability to accomplish anything we wanted by taking that first step with no worry of how it would turn out.

Some other things I've learned from a first grader.
* get paint on everything! - These little ones paint with wild abandon, and while most moms cringe when they witness this, if you could see their little eyes when their in the zone, it's pure joy.

* spirit dance, anytime, anywhere (no music required) - I've seen these kiddos just enjoy the moment with no worries of who was where, just enjoying their spirit

* enjoy your friendships & being in the moment - once when I was on duty outside, a kid ran up to me and said, "Mrs. Wallace I want you to meet my friend."  I asked, "what's his name?"  The little boy, "shrugged his shoulders and looked at me as if I was weird for asking and said, "I don't know!" and ran off to play.  He encountered this friend while doing what he enjoyed most, play, and didn't bother with the details, he just enjoyed this new found friend right here, right now.

So there you have it, my first post on a few simple rules to live by; and as I read them over, I've noticed that there's a common theme, living and enjoying the moment... Their spirits are pure joy.

:)  En- joy - LIVE in JOY  my friends.  I can't wait to hear your adventures.

     Marie