4 Apr 2012

ALL THAT HUFFING AND PUFFING AND BLOWING DOWN OF HOUSES

As many of you know I trained as a teaching assistant working with primary school children aged 4 to 11 years old.


Ah, so many things to be learnt, many of them from the children themselves. Take for example my learning to control my laughter, man, was that a steep learning curve.


Known for being a smiley sort of person, I'm one of those people who has a face that says it all ......... happiness, sadness, anger, they are all there, written as if in ink for all to see.


And yes, I admit it, at times I really did have to stop my self from laughing out loud at things that I knew the teacher would certainly not find amusing which brings to mind one little girl aged 7, lets call her Amy.


A sweet little girl who hadn't had the best start in life, she was one of those children who craved the attention of any grown up who happened to show the slightest interest in her.


Always eager to learn, Amy had a passion for stories - you could tell she wasn't read to at home as, whereas most of the children knew the traditional stories off by heart, Cinderella, Snow White, The Billy Goat's Gruff came as a revelation to Amy.


Anyway, one day, whilst reading The Three Little Pigs to the class, I came to the part where the big bad wolf said "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down" when a little voice piped up with "Well, the bastard".


One of those occasions when I should have perhaps been shocked, Amy said this with such feeling, with such sincerity, that I'm afraid, far from telling her off, I had to fight to keep a straight face and not laugh.


Ah, happy days. Have you ever had to fight not to laugh at something one of your little darlings said/did? I'd love to know.



13 comments:

Carol said...

Modern youth :)

AJ (4 yrs) was having a stand off with me, only the other day.

I asked him not to play in the flower borders with his diggers and cars (cats use this as litter tray!), and asked him to come onto the grass.

After a couple of attempts at "no" from Alf, and a "well we will go in and shut the door" from me, he gave in.
He then turned to me and said
"Mummy you are boring me now".

carol

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Ha, that story made me laugh out loud so I'm not sure how one could keep a straight face at the time :)

serendipity_viv said...

I was a teacher so I know where you are coming from. I constantly had to bite my lip at comments the kids used to say. I only wish I had written them down as they would make excellent writing fodder now.

chitra said...

Interesting...I am sure you would have enjoyed..

Gina said...

OMG! How cute? Okay, so cute may not be the right word (due to the language) but really...I would have probably had to excuse myself a moment. ^_^

NRIGirl said...

:) skips my mind at the moment but I have had many interesting conversations with my children. Still do! They are 12,10 and 8.

carol said...

That's too funny! I always lose the fight not to laugh, and have to say something along the lines of "but don't say/do that again. I won't laugh next time."

Betty Manousos said...

lol! thanks for the good laugh.

it's amazing! kids say the funniest things. sorry, i can't think of anything at the moment, i just drew a blank.

xx

Kelly said...

I've always had trouble not laughing at inappropriate times, so I'm not sure I could have kept a straight face with this.

I remember one time when a young boy was misbehaving in church. His mother had him by the arm, leading him out, and evidently she was squeezing hard enough for him to holler "you pinch!". Only problem was, it sounded like he said "you b**ch", instead! There were several shocked faces as they went up the aisle, but my daughter and I were trying our best not to laugh. This same little boy frequently sported a Batman costume in church...and his name was Gabriel, though he was far from angelic.

Suko said...

This is a great story, Petty! I remember helping in my daughter's kindergarten classroom once when a little girl told me she had lice. Oh, oh....

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

ROFL

I'm afraid I would have laughed. :) That is too cute!

anilkurup59 said...

You were fortunate to witness the unadulterated sincerity of the child. Yes must have been a tough ask to not laugh and roll.
I guess many of us may have had such moments when not to laugh was a matter of tough ask

The Bookworm said...

Oh too cute, I probably would of laughed out loud.
My kids have said some funny things over the years. When they were little and I'd take them out with me, I'd always insist they either held my hand in the store or they'd have to remain within my line of vision. Id be constantly saying "don't walk away from me, I need to see you at all times"
So when my daughter was around 5 years old I took her to the store with me. She tried to walk off on her own and I called her back. There was an older woman standing in the same aisle further up from us. My daughter was standing beside her and after I told her to come back near me she loudly replied "why? I'm right here standing next to this ugly lady!"
I was mortified when the woman looked at me but I wanted to laugh soooo badly! lol