Babies are a lot of WORK!

Yesterday was entertaining in Kindergarten.  - A female student plopped down next to the boy I was working with.  The conversation went like this...

Boy Student: "This is my lucky day!" (Gesturing toward the girl student) "She is my girlfriend!"

Me: "Does she know she is your girlfriend?"

Boy Student: (puzzled look on his face) "Oh! I don't know." (Now tapping the girl on the arm) "Did you know I am your girlfriend?"

Girl Student: "You mean boyfriend."

Boy Student: "Yeah, Did you know I am your boyfriend?"

Girl Student: "No. I never heard of such a thing." (Never taking her eyes off of the project she was working on and never making eye contact with her male suitor.)

Boy Student: "Oh.  Well, I am!"

Me: "What does that mean to be a girlfriend or a boyfriend?" -(I always like to do some investigative research and see what adult labels mean to young kids.)

A girl student who was passing by comments, "It means you kiss on the lips!"

Boy Student: "No!  No!  No Kissing!."

Me: "Well, what does it mean to be a boyfriend?"

Boy Student: "I don't really remember."

 A second Boy Student who was nearby comments,  "You have to go on dates and stuff."      (It was the "and stuff" that I personally was most curious about.)

Me: "What does that mean?"

Second Boy: "They go out to dinner with each other."

Me: "Oh."

The girl who breezed by earlier was back and said, "AND they go out to breakfast together and kiss each other in the lips!"  (SO much kissing talk.  Sometimes I think young kids try and throw in statements that will hopefully get a rise out of the adults, but yet they think there must be some safety to talk about such topics because the teacher is engaged in the conversation too.)

Me: (Wishing they would stop all the kissing talk because there are two sure ways to get five and six years old wound up.  One is to talk about using the bathroom and the other is kissing talk.)

The Boyfriend Student: "They get married after that!"

Me: "Why do they want to get married?" - (Trying not to project too much of my own pre-conceived notions about marriage on the kids, but I am curious... Why DO they think people want to get married...)

The Boyfriend Student: "Because they are in love."

Me: "Do you have to be in love to get married?"

The Boyfriend Student: (Thinking hard......I may have puzzled him...) "Hmmmm....No."

Me: "When can people get married?"

This question evoked lots of responses from 16 or 17 to 20's, 27 and 70's from a variety of people who were now involved in this conversation.

A Girl Student: "Yeah, once you are married you make babies."

I was grimacing and wondering why in the world I had let this conversation go on this long.  Before I could bring it to a halt I hear..."And they cry!"

Me: "Who cries?  The baby or the people who got married?"

The reply: "Everyone.  Babies are a lot of work."

And so there you have it, people.  Babies are a lot of work.

8 Days

Student: "Hey, That kid celebrates eight days. What kind of special is he?" (said while pointing to a peer at the next table over.)

I have to chuckle when a five year old says to me "Hey!" as their opener to a sentence.  Further, it cracks me up that this late in the year a student is still referring to a peer as "that kid" because they haven't committed the peer's name to memory.

I am sure the look on my face was crinkled up as I processed what I was being asked for a minute.  I answer, "Do you mean Jewish?"

Student:  "Yeah, and I know what the Jewish star looks like."

Me: I nod to acknowledge that we had success in deciphering what the student was referring to when asking "What kind of special is he?"

Student: "Look at me."

Me: (I look over)

Student: Making wildly large gestures with his hands he is pointing up and down and sideways and going on and on about triangles.  (This is his explanation and visual representation of a Star of David I assume)

Student: "Plus you know what else?  I only celebrate one."

Me: "One what?"

Student: "One day.  He does eight and I only do one."

(I assume he is just now coming to grips with his religion and only celebrating one winter holiday, Christmas, and his friend has somehow managed to find a loophole in religion that allows for eight days of celebrations. (a.k.a. - 8 days of presents)