I'm Sort of a Primary Gal, Myself

You know how some people are just MADE for Relief Society?  They just love it and all the cheesy things old people say to each other? (No offense if you are one of those people :) )  And how they love to cry and feel that "bond of sisterhood" or whatever?  And how other people are MEANT for Young Women's?  How they connect with the youth and love to go to and plan weekly activities and make handouts for all the lessons and "feel young again"? 

Not me. (in fact, with the exception of my younger siblings, teenagers scare the crap out of me) 

I'm made for Primary.  There is something about the innosense of kids that just gets me...right there...you know? (if you are a RS or YW lover you might not know :) ).   Primary rocks.  You get to sing and do wiggle songs and play games and color...I mean come on!  And the things kids say are just funny.  ESPECIALLY the sunbeams!  It's fun to watch them learn and put pieces together and actually remember what you taught them!

Last summer I started teaching the 8-9 year olds in our ward.  Which was a challenge.  I've taught Primary before, but it was the Sunbeams...the 3&4 year olds.  And that was SOOO much fun.  Sure it was hard.  They came straight from Nursery where they'd been playing for 2 hours and now they have to sit and LISTEN for two hours. 

I sidetrack.

The 8&9 year olds scared me at first.  Plus they were mostly all BOYS!  (what the crap do you do with a bunch of boys?  I only relate to pink, princesses, flowers, dresses and glitter.  Guns?  Fighting?  Sports?  They speak a foreign language as far as I'm concerned.)  And due to the size of our Ward's Primary (teeny, tiny) and the fact that some teachers had been released and their positions not filled I basically was teaching all of Sr. Primary.  Which as far as numbers go was still only 7-9 kids when they were ALL there, but the issue was that you had siblings that were several years apart that were together in a class who shouldn't be.  I had a partner for a while, but she was called to be the YW Pres, so I was left alone for a while.

Well, I got the hang of it.  Of course there are weeks I can't figure out how I can stretch out a 5 minute lesson, but it always works out.  Luckily we were on the Old Testament and there are some great stories in there for boys especially.  Fighting, wars, fire, lions, hangings...seriously it's full of action.  And I could keep their attention for a while on those stories.  We had some struggles with behavior, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Well it's a new year and a new class.  Most of the kids are the same, I have a new partner (THANK YOU!) and last week the only two kids there were probably the two best behaved ones I could ask for.  It was the easiest lesson I had taught in a LONG time!  But I love all the kids in my class, seriously.  They all have their own little personality and strengths and they are what make the class fun!

Scared of a Ghost

So this is another story about my Sunbeams. It's pretty short and sweet and writing it probably won't do it justice because you have to hear their little voices to appreciate just how cute this was. But I'll do my best.

I sadly do not remember many of the details surrounding this story. I want to say this happened on the day of our Easter lesson, but at the same time it doesn't seem to necessarily fit there. I would like to throw in a blurb about the Easter lesson so I never forget....as I talked about Jesus' death and how he was resurrected, those kids sat so quietly and intently and they had these wide eyes and they took in every word I said. I have never, ever seen them listen like they did that day. I can still picture their little faces and they asked so many questions...I don't want to forget that day.

So back to the Ghost story. It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was howling through the trees and thunder rumbled in the distance...okay not really. It was probably before noon on a cheeful spring day at church which doesn't seem like the proper set up for a ghost story, but that's all I got. For one reason or another we were talking about the Holy Ghost; who he is and what he does for us. We use the term "Holy Ghost" all the time in church, but as with lots of other terms in life we don't always think about the literal meaning of what we're saying and how people who are not familiar with the word may misinterpret it.

We were going through the lesson and little Evan looks at me and says, in a spooky voice (PLEASE try to imagine a little 3 year old say this in a little shaky, scary voice) "The Holy Ghost is scaryyyy!"

It was so cute I about lost it! Then try to tell a 3 year old a ghost isn't scary...told you it was short, but it always makes me smile when I think about it. In fact I even quote him all the time! :)

Story Time

So I always wonder what to post about. I seriously think about it all the time, but I can never seem to come up with anything that great. I'm also always thinking about how I should write down some of my funny stories, but never seem to get around to doing it. Well, over the weekend I had those two thoughts at the same time and bam! A great idea was born. So lucky you, it's story time.

I'm going to start with my Sunbeam stories, they are really the best!

Today's story will be titled, Find Faith...in Candy
Note: this is probably one of my favorite sunbeam stories.

For about 2 years I taught the Sunbeams at my parent's ward -maybe it was 3, now I can't remember! For those of you who may not know, Sunbeams are ages 3-4 and they are the funniest kids ever! They are also like little sponges and they learn so much you don't even realize. It's important to remember that starting at 18 months I think, prior to being a Sunbeam the kids spend 2 hours at church in Nursery where they get to play with toys, have snacks, and a very short lesson. On January 1st if you are 3 years old, you get to move into Sunbeams where you now get to sit quietly in a chair for 2 hours. --Yeah right. It's a pretty hard switch for kids because most of them have never been in a structured class before so they've never been taught the rules of classroom life. Not to mention they are 3 years old! I don't expect them to be perfect, and they really do try.

I usually tried to have a treat for them during class, for one because they are so cute I just can't help myself. And two, it keeps them quiet and occupied for at least a few minutes. :)

One week around Christmas time back in 2007 I think, we had a lesson in Sharing Time about faith. We learned what faith was and how we use it in our lives. We got back to our own class and I started the lesson, which probably continued the theme, but I can't remember.

On this particular week I had forgotten to go to the store and get something I knew they would like. Luckily my roommate liked those mint M&M's so I took some of those not knowing the response I would get from my little rays of sunshine.

This week I was lucky and only had 3 little boys in my class (man I can't believe how different boys really are from girls!) Evan, Matthew, and Luke.

Once class got going I gave each boy a few pieces and told them that they were mint M&M's.

Evan was first. He put a few pieces in his mouth, chewed, and said "I don't like this!" But he finished what was in his mouth.

Next was Matthew. Put candy in mouth. Chew. Swallow. "I like these! I like mint M&M's!"

Finally Luke. He put them in his mouth, chewed for a second and immediately wanted to spit them out. So I got him the garbage can and that's what he did.

I apologized to them and let them know I'd get them something better next week. As class went on they each answered some questions and I wanted to reward them with their treats, but felt bad that only one kid liked them and could very well give candy to just one child. When they each answered a question I asked them if they wanted some candy anyway. Of course they all did. So I went through the same routine.

Evan: "I don't like these!"
Matthew: "These are good!"
Luke: Spit immediately into garbage can.

Matthew continued to express his like for mint M&M's, and I think Evan picked up on my pleased response, because he put the rest of his candy in his mouth, looked at me and said,

"I have faith to like mint M&M's!" Imagine this is a cute little 3 year old voice, it makes the story so much better. :)

What did I tell you about them being sponges?

Little Evan continued to munch on M&M's for the rest of the class.
Luke Finally learned his lesson and declined any more offers of candy.

Tune in tomorrow for an exciting "Ghost" story featuring my favorite cast!