Mitmit

Grown ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944), "The Little Prince" 1943

Sometimes we do things assuming that people don’t see the real meaning behind why we do it. We think that we are smart enough to hide our motives and reasons. Until, a child opens his mouth to tell you what is so glaringly obvious.

During science class, i showed the children how vinegar dissolves the shell of an egg. Just out of curiosity and for the fun of it, I poured away the vinegar and washed the "shell-less" egg after a few days. After that, i passed the egg around to the whole class to touch. It was fun watching their reactions  and their curious minds learning new things. Some touched the egg with awe and oogleed at the egg yoke that could be seen, still others threw the egg away like it was a disgusting lizard in their palms. Some marveled at the egg but marvelled even more at how the smell of vinegar could still stay in the egg and was somehow passed on the their tiny hands as they touched the egg. Being asians, there were bound to be some who showed no emotions. Or perhaps they have learned how to supressed it so well.

Anyway, back to my story. After everyone got to see the egg, i put the egg back in the glass jar and i asked them whether they think that the egg was cooked. Some, assuming that since the shell was gone and the egg remained intact, it was definately cooked. The other half of the class saw the egg yoke swimming in the egg so they told me it wasn’t cooked. I told the children the only way we’d know is that I poke the egg and see if it breaks open like a raw egg. They eagerly awaited as i stabbed the egg with an old broken pencil. The egg white exploded out of the membrane and almost splashed all over me! I only barely managed to step back and the floor was wet with a few drops of egg white. We all saw that the egg was indeed raw inside it’s membrane and I held up the glass jar for everyone to see. Later, I tossed the pencil into the jar and closed the lid while explaining to the children why the egg was still raw. While doing that, I casually threw the glass jar into the bin. Little did I know, my simple action caused a stir in my class!

Some of the more vocal children were asking me why i threw; to them a perfectly clean and useful jar, away. There was a boy who told me to bring the jar home and wash it and in case i didn’t know better, he taught me how to wash the jar with soap. Garaunteeing that my jar will sparkle after using soap. I waved my hand and dismissed their suggestions and told them it’s OK. Then, I sheepishly tried to change the subject. As I was picking up my books to teach, one little genius at the back of the class finally blurted out the truth- the reason I really threw the jar away, a reason that did not really cross my mind until he said it.

My little genious said, "Ha, ha. Teacher lazy to wash the glass. Ha, ha". It took a class of 6 years olds to help me realise I am lazy to wash my glass jar. They also helped me realize that teaching a child is more than what you say. It’s what you do that counts. We always tell the children to be thrifty and not waste and yet on the other hand, here I am throwing something that to them, is not old and worn at all.  My baby is 2 months in my womb now. When my litle one is born, I must seriously reflect on my motives and actions. I gotta "walk the talk".

Perhaps the next time, I’ll throw the glass jar after class……….