Kindergarten learning...

In the late 1980's, a charming inspirational book, "All I Really Need To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten," by Robert Fulghum, came out becoming a #1 Bestseller.  At the beginning he shares a list of things we learn, which I will share in a moment.  Of course we all can come up with other things of our own we can add to the list too.

Long before I ever got to the kindergarten age, I had learned a lot.  I learned swear words.  You see my parents fought a lot and partied a lot.  And swore A LOT.  

So being the receptive three year old child I was, those words became MY vocabulary too.  How could they not?  I heard them constantly.

My babysitter, Mrs. Cassity, was an older lady I loved, who kept children in her home during the day.  Since swear words were a regular part of my vocabulary, they came out no matter where I was...but never to be mean or anything like that.  If my wooden block tower suddenly fell down, I would calmly say, "Oh f**k, I'll have to do it again."

Or, if a crayon broke, I would say, "Oh s$$t, my crayon just broke."  And if it was raining, I would say, "D**n, it's raining."  Now and then I would tearfully share with Mrs. Cassity, "My Mommy and Daddy had another BIG f**king fight last night and I couldn't sleep. Can I come live here?"

Thankfully, Mrs. Cassity understood I was only repeating the words I lived with, and did not punish me, which would have been very confusing for a three year old as to why I was being punished for words I heard all the time.  

She would instead let my father have it, who came to pick me up!

By the time I was four, she had gently, lovingly helped me understand the words were not nice words a child should say...and probably saved me from being kicked out of kindergarten later!

Mr. Fulghum said, "All I really need to know about how to live I learned in kindergarten..."

"Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own messes.
Don't take things that are not yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands.
Flush the toilet.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life...learn some, think some, draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some.
Tap a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, hold hands, and stay together.
Be aware of wonder.  Remember the little seed in a cup...the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish, hamsters and white mice and even the little seed, they all die.  So do we.
And remember the first word you learned...LOOK."

On the following page is Adelaide's "version..."😃