Life lessons

Yesterday I learned three important life lessons. First, that it can’t ever hurt go to social events, even if you don’t particularly feel like it. Second, that any booboo can be made better with the “parachute game”. And finally, to never say never.

A few months ago, I realized that my entire life was centered on work. And even though I absolutely love my job, the realization that I get up, go to work, come home, maybe work out, and then go to bed, only to do it all over again the next day, and that I would be doing this for the next thirty years if I didn’t change something in my routine, was slightly alarming. Well, it was actually enough to send me scampering for some, or to be quite honest, any social activities to do during the week, the subsequent loss of sleep be damned. So when a friend asked me to volunteer with the kids’ bible study at the base chapel, I happily agreed. So now, every Wednesday night, I come home, put on my blue and red Cubbies shirt and spend two hours watching 3 and 4-year olds. All this much to the amusement of husband-dear who, although he applauds my increase in social activities, told me he would have never ever envisioned me doing something quite this “domestic”. And it may sound odd, but hanging out with pre-k kids who love nothing more than to sit on your lap when you read them a story, or give you a hug when you come in, is a wonderful way to spend some time after a long and hectic day.

Sometimes though it is hard to find the motivation to go. Especially when my days have been filled with everybody and their brother wanting to talk to me. Days when all you want to do is go home, sit on the couch, clean out a tub of ice cream and watch TV. Yesterday was one of those days, one where students seem to fighting for the honor of being the most demanding student of the day, and so I wasn’t overly excited about going. But in the end, my sense of duty won out, and so I went.

And that’s where my second and third lesson come in. The parachute game is a game where you need a large sheet, preferably round and multi-colored, but anything large enough to cover a bunch of kids will do. A few adult volunteers hold the sheet up by its edges, and all the kids get underneath the material. The adults then move the sheet up, let it fly in the air, and bring it down on the kids, and then bring the sheet up again. And down. And up. And down. And so on. The kids absolutely loved it. They looked as though Christmas had come early. And even though some had not been having the best night of their life yesterday, the parachute made it all better. So next time I feel bad, I’m just going to find me a sheet and a volunteer, and I’ll be good.

While getting the kids set up for the game, I learned lesson number three. After having spent an apparent lifetime as a child being taught by strict and scary French teachers, I never thought I would be elated at hearing, “Mais alors, ca suffit, eh?!” (“well now, that’s enough!”) again. But when I heard another volunteer say that exact phrase to one of the girls in Cubbies, I was elated.
“Vous etes Francaise?” I asked, and indeed, the lady turned out to not only be French, but come from Metz. Suddenly, I felt as though Christmas had come early. Having spent a considerable time as a child living in the south of France, and with husband-dear having proposed to me in Metz, meeting her, in the middle of rural Georgia nonetheless, felt like coming home a little bit. Or like the parachute game. I’m still not sure.