Chickens Teaching Kids
Well, let me tell you a true story about that
A friend came over for a short visit with her two kids. The boy is six and his little sister is four. The kids fought over who will sit where at the dining table, and then argued about who got the bigger slice of cake and whose hot chocolate had more whip cream.
My friend looked at me apologetically and said, "You told me to be careful with painkillers, but now you can see why I have to take Advil all the time. These two are the reason for my frequent headaches."
I had a thought, "Let me read them a story," I said to my friend.
"Sure, go ahead! See if you can get their attention for more than two seconds..." she said with a sigh.
The kids clapped with delight, sat next to me on the couch and I started reading. By page six, the little boy turned to his sister and said angrily, "You're just like this chicken! You always want to do what I'm doing."
"Am not!" argued the little girl.
I waited... and waited... after a few minutes shouting, they settled down. I started reading the story from the beginning.
"You've read that already," said the boy, obviously annoyed.
"Well," I replied quietly. "If you too keep arguing and interrupting the reading, I'll lose the place in the book and I will start the story over."
"Okay, I'll be quiet," he said.
"Me, too," the little girl said and they both started laughing.
I continued reading and both kids were glued to every word looking at the pictures. When the eagle attacked the chickens, they both yelled, "Run Spike, run Penny! Hide in the bushes!"
I continued reading with the only interruptions when the kids pointed out something they liked or found funny in the pictures. By the time we got to the last pages, my friend standing by the door mouthed to me without making a sound, "You're a child whisperer!"
When I said, "The End," the kids looked at each other and the little boy said, " I love you, Penny."
The little girl smiled at her brother and replied, "I love you too, Spike."
There was about five seconds silence as the kids got up and hugged each other. My friend and I sniffed back tears, and then the magic was broken. The kids couldn't contain their pent-up energy any longer and started chasing each other throughout the house.
"Wow!" my friend said laughing. "You managed to give me fifteen minutes peace and quiet, and they both seem to get the message of the story about the importance of family and loving each other. Amazing! Kids can learn more from chickens than from people."
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