Snips, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

"Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails;
That's what little boys are made of." --Mother Goose

The following story is about a little 3 year old boy (we'll call him Matt). Now Matt is magazine caliber adorable. He's blond with bright blue eyes, and is constantly smiling. He has one of the brightest faces I have ever seen. His mom dresses him in a kind of "3-year-old-skater" look. He is so cute. Even though he's not one of my students, I know him relatively well. I've gotten to know the 3-year olds pretty well, since we all play together at recess time.

Matt is rarely in trouble. He's a good listener and very nice. I don't think I've ever seen him on the giving end of a troublesome act. He's just an all around good kid. I'm a huge fan of Matt.

So on Friday I happened to be working with the 2 year olds for about an hour. One of the teacher's was out on vacation, so they needed someone to fill in for a short amount of time. On Fridays we take the kids to gymnastics, which involves two teachers--one in the front of the line and one in the back--because we have to climb a staircase that curves around a corner. It's important to make sure all the kids can be monitored at any given time, in case they fall.

It was my job to gather of the 2 and 3 year olds that were enrolled to go to gymnastics. (Not an easy task. Haha.) We were already about 15 minutes late, due to some other factors, so tensions were running high. I was getting them together, when Matt walked up to the group. I was just about to call over to him, "Matt, get in line! We're going to gymnastics!" when I saw him. His hands, arms, and shins were covered with packed wet sand and dirt.

"Matt! What happened to you?" I cried out.

He looked at me, thrust his arms and hands in front of him and answered, "I'll wash my hands!" and hurried over to the drinking fountain.

Choking back exasperation and laughter (a rather odd combination, but ask anyone with kids or who works with kids and they will tell you they've experienced it) I said, "No, Matt, come here. We need to go to the bathroom."

I ushered him into the bathroom, followed by the 10 or so other children that were supposed to go to gymnastics. I shooed them out of the bathroom to wait with the gymnastics teacher and her assistant, while Matt rinsed wave after wave of dirt off of his hands and arms.

"Matt, what happened to you?" I asked again, while I wetted three sheets of paper towels in an attempt to deal with his muddy shins.

"I played in the dirt!" he answered, grinning from ear to ear.

Again, laughing to myself and lamenting the mess, I worked on wiping the mud off his shins. The paper towels at work are a joke. I think I was only succeeding in moving the mud around.

Just then the gymnastics assistant looked into the bathroom and laughed. "If I were you, " she said, "I'd just take off his shoes and socks and put him in the sink."

I paused for about two seconds, as Matt continued to rinse his hands. "You know, that's not a bad idea."

I started to undo Matt's converse and socks (which were equally caked with mud).

"What are you doing?" asked Matt.

"Putting you in the sink. Here, I'm going to pick you up, just hold on to me."

I picked him up and stuck his feet in the sink. With one arm secured tightly around his waist, I scrubbed the mud and dirt off one leg and then the other with my other hand. Matt was positively beaming.

Since we can't have the kids walking around with bare feet, I had to carry him up the stairs to gymnastics, and back down again when we were done. I laughed the entire way. Matt was ecstatic.

The best part? They couldn't get his shoes and socks clean for him to wear the rest of the day. So he had to wear the girl's faux leather costume boots from the dress-up box. When his dad came to pick him up, he didn't want to take them off...so he went home like that--all the while smiling his heart out.

I love my job. I love little boys, and I love that God created them to love making messes.

It sounds funny, but it was the moment that I hoisted Matt into the sink that made me 100% sure that one day I want to have sons just as much as I want to have daughters. They are so much fun. I found it extremely encouraging. :)
I hope this story brought as much joy to you as it brought to me...and to Matt. :)

Until next time!

Hannah