Thursday, June 26, 2014

Last Day of School - Chinatown Kindergarten

A long time ago, I used to live in New York City. Although it's been about 3 decades since I left (excluding a stint as a missionary doing kids' outreach from Brooklyn), folks still ask me, "do you miss it?"

Here's a link as a partial answer. It's from the New York Times, a video of a bunch of kindergartners in a Chinatown school singing, "Start spreading the news... I want to be a part of it... first grade, first grade!" as they look forward summer break.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/new-york-today-last-day-of-school/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHeadline&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1&

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A Simple Supper

Earlier this week I had the good fortune of having supper with a good friend (since first grade!) his wife and two of their kids.

The younger of the two kids had finished up her first semester at college and her parents were in town with one of their sons, to pick her up.

I helped the family clear out her dorm room. All of the things had been neatly stacked in the hallway, and truth be told, there wasn't much stuff there. She's a very practical, no-frills sort of person.

So, after loading up the family Suburban, we headed over to supper in the school's cafeteria.

We spent about an hour seated together, eating and talking. I was struck at how easy the give-and-take among their family was, and how they genuinely enjoyed each other's company. There was real conversation happening around the dining room table.

Sometimes I wonder to what extent the art of listening and sharing - talking - has been tarnished by our reliance on technology. I was very pleased to realize that in this case, it hadn't.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

Pinocchio: Art Credit, Disney If ever there were a time for a national "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" award, it's now. And certai...