June 27, 2013

Squirming, Twirling and Giggling

This video was shown to me back in my Seminary days and I'm so glad I could find it again!  Shout out to YouTube! Holla!  If you have never seen this, you need to.  Stop reading and press play on the video below.

If you have seen this already, you could watch it again if you'd like.  It's that good.  The reason I post this is mostly for what happens at about 06:15 until 07:25. On Sunday Parker and I had the opportunity to teach the 5 year old Primary class.  That little segment of the video just about sums up how Sharing Time was: chaotic but wildly entertaining. haha  Right from the very beginning of Sharing Time we had one girl who was crying and hyperventilating because her mom said, "She has a hard time with change and she really liked her old teachers."  Hmm.  After a lot of convincing and sweet talking she finally calmed down. Once she was calm she ended up sitting on my lap buried in my arms throughout the rest of Sharing Time.  #heartmelted


Alright, this isn't so bad!  I can do this!  Kids like me!  ....right?  

The other kids in our class were constantly bouncing and tapping and poking and making random sound effects WHILE folding their arms so the coined "Okay, fold your arms and listen" phrase didn't do much good to settle them down.  During one song we were supposed to stand up and turn around to sing. Simple, right?  Well between the girl who wouldn't release herself from my lap and another boy, continuing to turn in circles all the way to the front of the class and spin so much that he fell straight onto another boy and then onto a chair, I couldn't keep them all together more or less SINGING.  It was at this moment that I realized straight jackets or velcro bottoms just might be the greatest thing the church will ever invest in.

I guess after awhile of doing this every Sunday you get used to it because some of the other teachers were cool as cucumbers as they leaned over, picked up their wiggly 4 year old to plop them on their seat again, only for this to be repeated another 8 times before the song was over.  I did feel bad for the Sharing Time leaders though because while all of this craziness is happening, they are trying to teach about repenting and being forgiven to a room full of kids not listening to them.  To the teacher's credit, it was a great lesson, very creative and I had to hold back my urge to blurt out the answers to her questions.  #oops

Somehow we made it through Sharing Time and I almost forgot we still had class to go to.  I was already exhausted.  It's been awhile since my babysitting days and I work every day at a law firm ..I haven't been conditioned for that much non-stop energy all at once.   I was excited to get in a smaller group so that we could see what these little 5 year olds knew and what (if anything) Parker and I could teach them.  Parker and I introduced ourselves and then we asked each of them to tell us their names and something about themselves. First up, "My name is Porter and my dad died."

open mouth gifs photo: The Soup Open Mouth WHAAT gif 15fn6g5jpg.gif

Uhhhhhhh..... Parker and I just sat there for a second.  LUCKILY he just kept talking about other things and acted as if it wasn't a big deal, but rather just a fact of his life.  While he was talking little hands kept shooting into the air and waiving for their turn to talk.  Next up, "My name is Seth and today is my birthday and for my birthday I got a Razer scooter and the Razer scooter is a hot wheels scooter because I love hot wheels and that's what I wanted for my birthday do you want to come see my scooter it's right outside my mom let me ride it to church today and I can't wait until church is out so I can ride my scooter do you want to go see it I'll ride really fast and show you how cool it is."  See picture above.  You'll notice that this sentence was extremely hard to read (and type) due to the lack of punctuation, breathing or any indication of stopping.  These kids are masters when it comes to talking!  Even when they are taking in a breath they are still talking.  It's actually quite amazing.

Does anyone remember the show "Kids Say the Darndest Things" with Bill Cosby?


This kid is a prime example of the talents these little kids have.  They can talk about anything!  I can't imagine what is going on inside of their heads - actually I take that back, I can imagine because they say whatever thought comes in their head no matter the relevancy.  haha I don't know what Parker and I were so worried about, teaching kids is a piece of cake!  Just sit back and let them talk.  Done and done.

Then the next girl was up and after discussing about how her cousin lives in California she said, "my cousin's parents are broke up."     .............................................................

We all think that gossip in the ward comes from Relief Society, but that is not the case.  These little kids are dangerous when equip with secrets.  They pick up on more than we realize and are happy to share it with anyone who will listen. Without skipping a beat, a boy said, "what does broke up mean?"  Oh crap.  Before I had a chance to think of something diplomatic to say another boy started singing, "We are never, ever, ever getting..." and then clamped his hands over his mouth.  Saved by Taylor Swift! haha I couldn't help but laugh at the perfect timing and even though he was embarrassed I had to admit, he was right on.  See, these kids don't miss a beat.  The other kids didn't really know what was going on and so we quickly moved on to start the lesson.  Whew.

We were given Lesson 22: The Atonement.  Again, see picture above.  Man that gif has worked so many times for this!  Basically shows how I feel all the time about kids but...anyways....  How were we to teach these 5 year olds about the Atonement?!  They weren't even baptized yet.   Instead, we decided to focus on Choosing the Right.  I had planned this awesome lesson complete with coloring at the end because we all know coloring is a staple in Primary.  We started the lesson and one kid raised his hand and said in the sweetest most polite voice, "Umm excuse me (I melted), did you bring us treats? Our last teacher always brought treats."  Deer in the headlights.  Crickets.  #oops  We had forgotten the treats! The one easy thing we could have done to make them instantly like us and we failed miserably.  I am not above bribing for love so I'm surprised I didn't think about this!  face --> palm.  I promised them we would bring treats next week and apologized many times to those sad little faces.

Well.... my brilliantly planned out lesson lasted a whopping 15 minutes and I had no idea what else to do.  Parker looked at me and then said, "Who wants to color?!"

Like terrible teachers, those kids colored for the better part of 40 minutes because we didn't have enough planned.  I tried to have them draw instances where they were choosing the right (I know, it was a stretch) but without looking up one girl said, "No, I'm going to draw a rainbow." And so they drew rainbows, whales, bugs, trees, dogs, play houses and whatever else they wanted.  It was adorable.  Parker is super great and had them also drawing on the chalkboard with everyone adding something different to the masterpiece.  He certainly is good with kids!

At the end, the shy girl from the beginning came up and hugged my leg.  For the millionth time in those two hours my heart melted.  These little kids are handfuls, but they sure are cute.  Overall I LOVED it and I'm glad I had that experience.  I went home and passed out on the couch; I was beyond exhausted and could only think of how bad I felt for all of the moms and dads who now had to take those rambunctious kids HOME and entertain them all day, every day.  I have SO much more respect for parents and I consequently learned that my kids are going to be screwed.  Sorry kids! :]

P.S. Oh and sorry little girl who just got used to me being her new teacher.... I won't be there anymore since I was only subbing for my mom.  #heartbreaker #oops

June 21, 2013

Hey There Friday.

I LOVE PINTEREST!  I love how funny, creative, smart and amazing people are and that we get to celebrate that on Pinterest.  For today, I loved these funnies.  Enjoy, because it's FRIDAY!


Mom......?



hahahahahahaha!


Wow it took me a second....
We all have those days....

June 19, 2013

Negativity

Yesterday I made the goal to "free your[my]self from negative people."  This seemed a little difficult because the ideal situation I guess would be to just rid my life of any negative people.  Literally.  Maybe even Physically.  jokes. :)  Since that isn't very realistic, I figured I'd look up ways to deal with negative people.   A lot of times if I am around someone who is very negative it is very emotionally draining...as if they are sucking the life and energy right out of me.  I need to keep in mind that there are times when I get on negative, hate-the-world kicks, as much as I hate to admit it, so I was hoping to find ways to quickly turn those days around.

I decided to focus on the first part: dealing with negative people.  I hopped on google and up pops: 7 Simple Tips to Deal with Negative People how great is that?!

  1. Don't Engage in the Negativity
  2. Hang Out in Groups
  3. Objectify the Comments Made
  4. Go With Lighter Topics
  5. Be Mindful of the Time You Spend With Them
  6. Identify Areas You Can Make a Positive Change
  7. Drop Them From Your Life

I suggest you read the post (see link above) if you're interested, because the opinions expressed therein are really great.  #7 gave me a start because the rest of the tips were encouraging that these people can change.  However, sometimes I guess we just have to realize that some people are emotionally destructive and we have to take care of ourselves first before we can help others.  aka drop it like it's hot. 

Well, I'll give it a try!  Bring on the negativity!

June 18, 2013

New Goals

I found this lovely on Pinterest and it made me think that I really want to make a few changes in my interactions with people.

Anyone else want to join?  I'm going to take one each week to work on/be aware of and see what happens! Why not?! So far my favorite one on this list is "Give people you don't know a fair chance."  I really need to be better at that so I'm excited to make that change!

This week: "Free yourself from negative people."  Interesting...

June 14, 2013

Bloody Jack


My dad has been trying to convince me to listen to the Bloody Jack audio book for years now and I finally caved.  I'm not entirely sure why I wasn't excited to read it from the start, but now that I've started it I am hooked!  Now that I'm hooked, I'd like to put the pressure on ANYONE who enjoys good things in life.... go read this book!   The Bloody Jack series just may have snuck its way into my #1 spot.   Oh yeah, it's that good. 

Bloody Jack is a pirate adventure series unlike anything I've ever read.  The back of the book reads:


This description doesn't do the story justice, but it is a start.  Jacky Faber is a ridiculous but extremely charming character.  She has a lot of spunk and is always getting herself in and out of trouble.  I also love that it is based in the 18th century because this time period has always fascinated me.  L.A. Meyer is a phenomenal writer and I can't wait to start the third book.  I'm trying to be really vague because nothing I say will prepare you for the greatness that envelops each page of this book.  I feel like I am gushing everywhere about this book but I can't help it.  When something is this good I have to share it!

Side note: Listening to it as an audio book makes 
it 400 million times better!  The lady who narrates 
this book is beyond fantastic and very entertaining.  
I couldn't wait to drive ANYWHERE just 
so I could listen to this book.

So, put this at the top of your summer reading list and be prepared to be sucked in.  Bloody Jack = Domination.  Happy reading!