My Kind of Girl!

Now anybody who knew me as a child knows that I grew up country and I grew up Southern in Darlington, Alabama. So I'm certainly not making fun of this child's accent... I have a similar one myself! However, hers does stand out among most of the children at my school, and that's what made this story so cute. We've been having lessons on learning to be good problem-solvers in kindergarten guidance classes. To help show why we need this skill, I use a puppet called Ossie the Ostrich. Since he has such a tiny little brain, he freaks out whenever he has a problem, and instead of thinking about how to solve it, he hides his head in the sand. We have fun whining a little chant when Ossie comes to class: "Poor little me, poor little me, I've got a problem, poor little me! Poor little me, poor little me, I've got a problem, poor little me," which we accompany with lots of hand-wringing. Today, we prepared to read a story in class, and as I always do, I passed out some puppets for the children to hold as they listened. The last puppet to be chosen was Ossie, and as a pretty girl with shiny long hair claimed him, I said to her, "Now don't let him freak...give him some extra love." Exuberantly walking back with Ossie to her spot on the carpet, the child said in a serious tone of voice and with her very distinctive accent, "Don't worry, Miss Mimi. I will NOT let him freak. That's just not my THANG!" Adorable...I cracked up!