Overheard on the playground:
You Stink! No, You Stink!
I don’t like you! I don’t like you either!
Everything you say is wrong! Everything YOU say is wrong!
You are a liar! I don’t believe a word that comes out of YOUR mouth!
YOU make things up all the time! YOU lie and cheat!
I will NEVER agree with you on anything! I don’t want YOU to agree with ME!
I don’t trust you! Nobody trusts YOU!
I will try to undo everything that you do! I will stop you from winning, no matter what it takes!
I cannot stand to even look at you! You make me sick!
I’m right and you’re wrong! No, I’M right and YOU’RE wrong!
I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you! (covering ears) La-la-la-la-la-la (covering ears)
(stick out tongue) (stick out tongue)
Actually friends, that wasn’t overheard on the playground. That was overheard on the street, in the store, in the hallways, in the neighborhood, at the gym, in the park, and everywhere else that grownups frequent. It was overheard on the TV, on the radio, on the podcasts, on the phones, and everything that grownups listen to daily. Sad to say, it’s the way we hear ourselves talk.
What was actually overheard on the playground (I’m a preschool teacher—I know these things), was:
Let’s go play!
Can I come with you?
This is fun!
Do you want to play with us?
It’s your turn now!
Are you ok?
Let’s do it again!
Do we have to go home? I love being here with my friends!
Sigh. Out of the mouth of babes. The kind, caring, considerate kids who know that each child is just as important as they themselves are. The kids who show that everyone can be treated with respect. The kids who don't always agree, but would never demean or insult one another. I know they don't always get it right. I know that kids can argue and treat each other poorly. I also know that adults don't always behave badly. But, it sure does seem like it nowadays.
Would that we adults could stop arguing and try to find some common ground with other people. Would that we could listen and try to understand. Would that we could solve some problems if we stopped acting like spoiled immature children who whine and blame everyone else if we don't get exactly what we want. If only we could learn respect and tolerance, and if we felt a sense of responsibility to others even if we disagree with them. If we asked not what our country could do for us, but what we could do for our country.
Can we stop acting like bratty children, start to cooperate, and work together to solve some of these serious problems?
Pretty please?