I think God knew what He was doing when He made grass... because on grass, the children can run about and not fall. Even if they fall, the soft grass cushions their fall. So, I walked them a little ways down to a small patch of green grass with a large tree. In the shade of that huge tree, the children slugged it out with my Kick Ass Water Guns.
There is something magical about children playing with wild abandon in the sun. Waves of joy pulsed off them and lapped gently at the edges of my heart. Every adult in the vicinity was attracted to come look, mesmerized. For the first time, the parents were able to witness the last 10 minutes of Dr Pet's class. Curious other adults came too, attracted to the spectacle of a group of yelling happy children. They all stood there smiling in the sunlight. Something in the children's happiness played chords of beautiful music in the adults' hearts. Mommies and daddies took videos and pictures with their smart phones. A very very kind mother sent me her set of 9 pictures. If any of the other Moms or Dads also took pictures/videos, please do email them to me? I will not upload videos into my blog (in order to protect the children), and if I do upload pictures, I will ensure the children's faces cannot be seen (as above).
I am training a new facilitator. For 5 weeks, she was serious and professional. She spoke softly and didn't smile. I had to intervene often in her class to soften the mood. She had had some experience working in some other tuition agencies where she was given classes to teach. She thought she knew what a Teacher should be like. Unfortunately, her definition of what a Teacher was, did not gel with my definition. I had to teach her my definition. This new facilitator too stood wonderingly and marveled at this strange phenomenon of children playing with abandon, in the sun. Then, she smiled at me and said, "Thank you Dr Pet, for teaching me how to love children."
And that, my friends, is praise indeed. No?
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