"I am the littlest Billy Goat Gruff," explained Ramona. "I have to trip-trap."
"You may trip-trap when we go outdoors." Miss Binney's voice was firm. "You may
not trip-trap in the classroom."
At playtime the whole class turned into Billy Goats Gruff and trip-trapped around the playground, but none so joyously or so noisily as Ramona. The gathering clouds, Ramona noticed, were dark and threatening.
Sure enough, that evening rain began to fall, and all night long it beat against the south side of the Quimby's house. The next morning Ramona, in her boots and raincoat, was out long before Howie arrived to walk to school with her. She waded through the wet lawn, and her boots became even shinier when they were wet. She stamped in all the little puddles on the driveway. She stood in the gutter and let muddy water run over the toes of her beautiful new boots. She gathered wet leaves to dam the gutters so she could stand in deeper water.......
.....Here is my comment:
ReplyDeleteI have been asked several times about the " reasoning" for this section of a popular children's book. I laugh and always reply, "Well, R a m o n a is the normal kid....the REAL kid....the AUTHENTIC CHILD.....She simply CANNOT PULL IT TOGETHER FOR THE AUTHORITIES IN HER WORLD. She is a child...with the reasoning of a child....with the brain development of a child.
She is a healthy reminder to me of the honest path we were on as children... and , the path that the children I spend time with each day ARE WALKING along......
I am a concerned adult....an advocate for the child.
Realizing like never before, the idea that "training a child" may very likely mean " crushing their spirit" or stealing congruity, I find myself in a constant flux of giving a hand, clearing a space, watching without adult words.....allowing the person to be who they really are....even if this means a little human being who is very, very angry.....or afraid, or GIDDY WITH DELIGHT....too wiggly to sit still, too eager to be outside.....just
hungry, cranky, sleepy, or needing to be held.
I am concerned for the PUNITIVE AIR that so many of my shorter friends must breathe each day. My concern comes cognitively....ie. it is knowledge with experience. You see, I began drinking the "Well-behaved child" cool- aid as a very tiny person....and then prepared it for my four children.....who were struggling under the weight of it as I did.
There are many voices who would tell me with great resolve....."Foolishness is born in their hearts!" Or...."You have just sent a fool on an errand!" Infact, there are probably dozens of phrases used and quoted by this peanut gallery.......
But, I have changed. My feet are outside those walls....standing, heart raw, hands open, scars tendered....my right arm is cut off, and my left hand is in HIS.....and He says,
"Let them come to me....."
The Message reads this way: "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and Me. These children are the Kingdom's pride and JOY. Mark this: Unless you accept God's Kingdom in the S I M P L I C I T Y of a C H I L D, you 'll never get in."
Luke 18:16