After weeks of observing the kids in the playground at recess, I have finally found the perfect analogy.
I want you to think of a spring, and I want you to imagine squeezing this spring reeeeeally hard to trap as much energy as possible, then let go of the spring... What will happen? All the energy will be released of course and the spring will, well, SPRING out!
Now I want you to picture springs, only instead of a single one, I want you to think of 300 springs released at the same time. And instead of this spring, springing out once and settling down, I want you to image that all these springs, once released, would go on and on and on springing around ad infinitum.
That is recess time my friends.
The things I see in recess leave me in shock. Boys have absolutely no verbal communication to speak of (unless yelling out names at each other could be counted as such!). They primarily rely on communication via the limbs- and no I do not mean sign language.
From the second they set foot into the playground (okay who am I kidding, from the second they set foot out of class), the frenzy begins! It's running faster than the wind, while simultaneously punching, poking, tripping and kicking every other boy in the playground.
And I'm talking EACH AND EVERY KID is doing that. There are no exceptions! Even a boy who might be considered a "loner" (and in civilized society would be expected to sit alone in the corner) would be found alone yes, but kicking and punching the air around him! (Imaginary friends? I hate to think).
And the funny part is, they are not doing that aggressively- this is their way of bonding and having fun!
Now don't take my word for it (cuz I'm still in my early stages of observing and hypothesising about the complex social behaviors of crazy 8 and 9 year olds!:P), but I think the more kicks and punches are aimed at you, the more popular you are or something. Ouch, I would hate to be popular myself.
My last year was spent at the girls' playground, so you can see why I'm still in a state of shock.
So, basically if you take a typical girly conversation and translate it into boys-in-playground language, you'd get something close to this:
Girl1: My mom is going to get me the new Fulla doll!
(Translation in boy language: lunch bag thrown at friend)
Girl2: Well, I have a new huuuuge sticker book.
(Translation in boy language: bag thrown back followed by a whack on the head)
Girl1: eeeeee, Fatima is here. I don't like her, she's such a taddle tale in class.
(Translation in boy language: a sprint, followed by a lunge at the boy's feet, knocking him almost unconscious)
Girl2: Lets not let her play with your doll or take my stickers.
(Translation in boy language: grabbing friend's shirt hard, tearing 2 buttons then dragging him on the floor, while both are laughing)
But I gotta hand it to them, the are resourceful. Anything (and I mean ANYTHING) could serve as a soccer ball. Juice boxes, tupperwares, chocolate wrappers, and if necessary a stray 1st grader!!!
I just marvel at the amount of pent-up energy these kids have. Seriously, what do their parents' feed them in the morning?
Peanutbutter-chocolatechip-sugarcandy-coated brownies? (ahhhh, wouldn't that be sweeeeet- quite literally!!)
My kids, though, will only be eating BROCCOLI.
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9 comments:
Oh your kids are going to love you. Broccoli?
Trust me, if your students lived on a diet of hay they'd still be doing all of the above, and maybe use all that energy to protest the withholding of yummies.
Need I remind you that if not for propriety you would be out there "springing" like the best them (minus the causing physical harm to actual persons). There are punching bags that are still aching from you. So, back to your kids. With your genes, they will be bundles of energy no matter what you feed them.
And I will be more than happy to provide them with chocolate chip pancakes. After all, what are aunt's for? (Witness auntie Sausan. Thank you 3amma!!! I'm drowning in yummies... )
Thats said, my kids will be eating broccoli. It falls to you to make them the chocolate chip pancakes. It's the law of nature.
Back to my papers. Bye!
LOL
Gosh, my kids WILL be just as crazy, won't they?:P
Then that broccoli plan must be cancelled- it would cause unnecessary suffering to them AND me(cuz lets face it, I would have to eat broccoli too- I think it would be frowned upon for a mom to have her kids living solely on a broccoli diet while she enjoys goodies in front of them:P I dunno why:s)
That settles it. It's peanutbutter-nutella-chocolatechip-stuffed-sandwishes each and every morning for my family!
If we're gonna be crazy no matter what, we might as well enjoy it!:P
Oh and as for your "auntly goodies" duty- YOU BET. Lets just say you'll be seeing a lot of us during mealtimes;P
You really haven't learnt a thing have you. Kids who are force fed broccoli by their parents turn out like, well, like me.
I think you found that scary enough, so I'll leave it at that.
LOL
Indeed, that is scary.
Gosh, you really truly did suffer in your childhood when it came to food, didn't ya?
I still remember the size of the carrot you had to eat daily- I remember thinking: "whoa, this carrot is almost as tall as me!!":P
I know for a fact though, you're more than making up for it now:P
Hello???? He's still eating his carrots and Broccoli (You are!!!). So really, it does pay off to force feed good stuff to your kids (you're still way behind on your fried mac & cheese my friend). This way your kids grow up healthy despite themselves. Do you think you'd be able to tackle 5.10s without that Nasser? I think not :P
I'm sorry, but no. I've learned to eat healthy food *despite* my parents' insistance on making a large tub of salad a part of (eventually becoming) my dinner for the last 13 years (me? bitter?? noooooooooo).
It's actually quite disconcerting, but I've grown, believe it or not, to like the taste of salad. Yes, it's strange and defies the known laws of the universe, and god forbid my mom ever finds out (I still like to heckle her about the salad every now and then:P)
But oh my god do I ever have a soft spot for some seriously artery-clogging and hideously greasy food. Dalia you did me no favours by reminding me of that heavenly and tantalizing plate of fried mac & cheese (it tastes much better than it sounds:P)
Normally I'd be smacking my lips and getting real hungry about now, but last night I went to a sushi restaurant with an all you can eat menu... I'll let you imagination do the rest of the work. Suffice to say they're considering eliminating that option from the menu.
LOL
wow... if you've grown to like the taste of salad, then I guess auntie's job is done here!!:)
I was afraid that force-feeding your kids healthy food would result in very unfavorable reactions once they are the boss of themselves (like say living off a diet entirely of "fried mac and cheese":P)
but seriously EWWW- fried mac and cheese? That's like instant death:P
While I am a total chocolate/sugar junkie, fried greasy things are not my thing!
For some reason, I feel that a plate of french fries would kill me, while a sweeeeeet hot-fudgy dessert wouldn't (and even if it did, it would be out of too much happiness:P)
Oh and even though no one forces me to, I do eat my very own tub of salad every day:) and I must say.. I love it!
As for sushi, I was totally agaist the idea- until da bro (God bless him) force fed me some- AAAAAhhhh, good stuff !!
Cancelling the "all-you-can-eat" option? LOL
Why am I not surprised.
I gotta say, I'm a real big fan of sweets, and I don't like to eat greasy food too often. But every once in a blue moon, I just go all out on a meal worthy of being called "the coronary".
I don't expect you to understand... we're different people, you and I :P.
However, in case you do want more insight, ask you brother (that's one piece of advice that I shouldn't have taken the precious seconds to type, but that's life).
"The Coronary"
LOL
You're something.
I'm glad it's "once in a very blue moon"- we're a small family as it is, one cousin down would be missed:P
It's my broz that I truly fear for. For him it's the other way round- a salad once in a VERY VERY bright blue moon!
(have yet to see that happen;p)
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