Now we all know that kindergarten students have a developmentally rudimentary perspective on time spans, but this comment just brought out the giggles in me! Here's what happened. In a lesson explaining conscience and how it can help us make decisions, I told a true story about some double trouble I got into when I was 4 years old. My little sister Beth and I did something wrong and were about to get punished when I looked my mama right in the eyes and blamed the whole incident on Beth, who didn't even take up for herself. Instead, Beth got punished and I didn't. "Now you MIGHT think I was happy that I didn't get in trouble," I said to the class. "But I felt like the rottenest kid on earth. I couldn't sleep a wink that night, but just tossed and turned and turned and tossed. I kept thinking about my sweet little sister, who took a punishment for me, and I remembered how much I love my parents and how I'd lied to my mama's face and how she trusted me. My conscience was causing me to feel guilty and ashamed and worried, and it was helping me think about right and wrong." The children sat mesmerized, as they LOVE to hear their teachers' childhood stories, and I could tell that they were shocked and disappointed in me for being so mean to my little sister. At the conclusion of my story, I told the kindergartners that this story happened a L-O-O-O-N-G time ago, and the reason I still remember it is that it was the day I realized I had a conscience, and I still feel bad about what I did that day. Now here comes the funny part. In the midst of this solemn conversation, one of my favorite little girls, a tiny blonde with beautiful blue eyes, blurted out in all seriousness, "Hey, that was a REALLY long time ago....I was still a BABY!" (Who knew that "babyhood" lasted for over 50 years!!)
