Life lessons from kindergarten

Tomorrow is Olivia's last day of school.
The end of kindergarten.
Oh my how time flies when you're having fun.

Her teacher sent home a note with all the students the other day ... and on this note were some lines from the book "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum. The teacher had changed it up a bit and made it more personalized for the students, but the lesson was still the same.

And it is such a simple lesson that I think many of us tend to forget it in the frantic, hectic craziness of every day life.

Everything you need to know about life you learned in kindergarten.

Think about it, won't you?

A few of the 'rules' of kindergarten, applied to life as we know it...

- Share everything - OK, simple enough. But I think it means more than just sharing your crayons or a pencils. Share yourself with people. You know, be a friend. Be supportive. Share your time and your wisdom and your friendship with others. They will thank you for it.

- Play fair - Don't cheat. Don't lie. Don't be deceitful. Play nice with others. Life is too short to do otherwise.

- Clean up your own mess - Yes, this means make your bed, clean your room and don't leave dirty dishes in the sink. But also - clean up YOUR OWN MESS. Don't expect others to do it for you. If you had the time to make the mess, then you certainly have the time to clean it up.

- Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody -This is a rare thing these days. And I think it goes hand-in-hand with cleaning up your own mess. In today's "always online" viral world it is SO EASY to hurt someone - intentionally or not - and yet, it seems to be so hard to say 'I'm sorry.' All it takes is 140 characters to damage a relationship IN AN INSTANT. Take the time to say "I'm sorry"...that only take 8 characters.

- Warm cookies and milk are good for you - Well, duh.

- When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together - Or, put more simply: friends are the glue that holds everything together. Without your friends and family you are one small fish in a really big pond. Hold hands, look both ways before you cross the street and stick together. We're all in this (crazy thing called life) together.

- Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Stryofoam cup - they all die. So do we - In other words, life is short. Why not enjoy it (and make it enjoyable) while you can?

It's all so very simple.

Share. Play fair. Don't hit people. Milk and cookies are good for us. We should all take an afternoon nap sometimes. Hold hands with your friends. Stick together. Life is short.


(The rules are from "All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum. The "in other words" were all mine)