25 Years (June 6, 2009)

Mother Goose rhymes are favourites in preschool classes. One traditional and well-known rhyme is Hey Diddle Diddle. One of my students asked me why the dish ran away with the spoon and I told him that they are probably going to play.

Stashed in my library at home is a wonderful book called The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon and I brought it to school for sharing. It is a romantic story about the dish running away with the spoon and building their own lives by being vaudeville performers. With some dramatic twist and turn, they turned into bad guys then good guys, separated and later on, reunited after 25 years.

I paused when I told the children that the spoon found the dish after 25 years and made mentioned that 25 is when they turn 30. And 25 is when I turn…dead (as most of the children answered). I started to shed tears and I became very quiet.

Why are you crying?
Is it because we said you’ll be dead?
No, I think the teacher is sad because the dish is broken.

At that moment, I came to a realization that in 25 years I might be actually dead. And that I won’t be seeing the children whom I had fallen in love and developed a strong bond with. The end of the school year is around the corner and with all the emotions swelling up, the dam that holds the tears just burst.

Please don’t cry, because if you ever die, you’ll be in heaven.
Yes, and you’ll be with your friends and family.
And when we die, well see each other again.
It’s a cycle, we are all born and we all die.

Theoretically speaking, I might still be alive 25 years from now, but it was a realization that whatever I am holding off right now should be done right now.

(The italicize print were conversations from my students ages 4 and 5.)