When our children are at the house, they don’t watch television and only watch movies at rest time. The rest of the time they are using their imaginations and engaging in play with the other children and the staff. They come up with some pretty creative ideas.
Last week, Miss Pat picked the one watermelon that grew in our garden. They had been watching it grow for some time and were excited that it was finally big enough to pick. So they pulled it from the vine and brought it into the house.
One of the boys, R. was amazed at how big it had grown. He decided it was even as big as the grownups’ heads. So he decided to have a contest. He asked Miss R. to get a tape measure and they would measure everybody’s heads and the one closest to the watermelon would win.
Everyone got measured then Sr. Mary arrived at the house. As she walked through the playroom, she was cornered and told it was her turn. She wasn’t sure what turn she was supposed to be taking and got a little nervous when T. walked toward her with a tape measure. She wondered, “Hmmm, what was this child going to do?”
T. then asked Sr. Mary to sit down. Now she was really getting nervous.
T. wrapped the tape measure around her forehead then reported the reading to Miss R. The children seemed to find great joy then in announcing to Sr. Mary that she lost.
Not sure what she was even competing for, she asked one of the boys, “OK, I lost, but what did I lose at?”
P. told her, “We’re trying to see whose head is the closest size to our watermelon? And Miss J.’s is closer than yours.’
Sr. Mary just looked at Miss R. with that look that said, “Where did you come up with this one?” Miss R. just shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
Sr. Mary poured her cup of coffee and went back to her office, listening to the children’s excitement as they announced to Miss J. that she was the winner. Miss J. replied, “Wow! Thanks!” Then she looked at Sr. Mary and said, “I think?”
The watermelon would taste especially sweet that night with dinner. The children knew it had come from their own garden and a few of them had been there long enough to really watch it grow.
Sr. Mary’s thought as she sat in her office . . . . Too bad it was a seedless watermelon, otherwise she was sure the day would have ended with a seed spitting contest. She remembered having a few of those with her brothers when she was their age. But not to worry. She knew when she came back the next day there would be another story to tell and another competition to enter.
She heard one of the boys say as she got up from her desk, “Let’s see who can guess how many tomatoes Moses will eat?”
Yep, time to leave and go home.
Game over.
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