Sunday, August 16, 2009

Quotable Sunday ~Kindergarten

In light of the fact that I will have, as of tomorrow morning, a Kindergartener, I thought I would post one of my favorite poems from Robert Fulghum.

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Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned:


Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.


Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup -- they all die. So do we.


And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK.


Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living.


Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult
terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or
your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.


~ Robert Fulghum ~

Want to post a few quotes of your own, or read some other great ones? Just visit A Daily Dose of Toni for more Quotable Sunday!

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12 comments:

Martha said...

Best of luck to your little kindergartener, that day seems like a lifetime ago in my memories, really only 7 years, they change so quickly! Life really was so simple back then!

Happy QS!

Peggy said...

I remember all three of my kids first days in kindergarten.
The time after seems to have flown by!

Unknown said...

AWW my middle starts kindergarten soon too I am so emotional over it LOL

Becca said...

Thank you for posting this amazing addition to Quotable Sunday. Everything is soooo true!

Jennifer-Eighty MPH Mom said...

Isn't this the truth! Congrats on having a kindergartner! That is a big, big day alright...I remember it well. Good luck to both of you, and it's okay mom - your "baby" will do fine!

Anonymous said...

Hope they have a great first day of school!

Absurd Book Nerd said...

I love it! I too have a kindergartner this year, along with a middle schooler & a high schooler. She is my baby & it is such a big step, probably more for me than for her. She starts Wednesday. I hope your kindergartner has a great first day!

Stacy Uncorked said...

Oh, I love that! Sums it up quite nicely! :)

Such a big day for you tomorrow, isn't it? Princess Nagger started Kindergarten last year - her first day was so surreal for me, because it seemed that the time from infant to Kindergartner flew by way too fast. Make sure you get LOTS of pictures of that first day! :) ((HUGZ!!))

Hope you're having a great Sunday! :)

Mels Place in Big Bear said...

Wow, good luck. Having just been thru K with Stink, and Pip starting next week, I know how exciting and scary this can be all at once. (And I"m talking about how the parents feel!) Sooo much luck to you and everyone.

Nina said...

Sign me up for that 3 o'clock nap. LOL....

I hope she has a great first day!

Banteringblonde said...

Bitter sweet .... hope the day went well! Guess what? You won the Lands' End Backpack!

Felicia said...

Very bitter sweet!