Our niece Samantha is a planner. It wasn't by accident. We were babysitting with her when she was 10 and she saw both Jilda and me updating our planners as we drank our morning coffee.
She was enthralled by the todo list, the calendars, and plugging dates and times for future appointments in a book. She was so taken that when we ordered our refills, we ordered her a planner too.
She embraced the planning process. If you asked her at 12 what she was doing next week, she'd pull the planner from her backpack and flip to the calendar and tell you in detail what was on her schedule.
She's an early adopter, so as soon as iPads and smartphones came onto the scene, she embraced them. Now her life is on her phone.
Fast forward to the first week of April of this year. She called to see if we could be chaperones at the first-grade picnic. She knew then that she would not be able to be off work for the picnic and wanted someone to be there for Jordan. Both Jilda and I plugged it into our phones and planners.
Today was a workday for me, but at 8:45, I forwarded my calls and headed to the park. At nine sharp, a herd of kids walked across the road to the park.
For a few hours, we helped the teachers and other chaperones keep an eye on about a hundred rowdy first graders. It was a joyful day.
I tried not to hamper the fun by taking a lot of pictures, but I had to take a few. The first picture is of Jordan and two of his friends. The second picture is him with his teacher Mr. Key.
I think he was sad when the picnic was over because he understood that he wouldn't see most of his friends until the fall.
I hope your day was as joyful as mine.
She was enthralled by the todo list, the calendars, and plugging dates and times for future appointments in a book. She was so taken that when we ordered our refills, we ordered her a planner too.
She embraced the planning process. If you asked her at 12 what she was doing next week, she'd pull the planner from her backpack and flip to the calendar and tell you in detail what was on her schedule.
She's an early adopter, so as soon as iPads and smartphones came onto the scene, she embraced them. Now her life is on her phone.
Fast forward to the first week of April of this year. She called to see if we could be chaperones at the first-grade picnic. She knew then that she would not be able to be off work for the picnic and wanted someone to be there for Jordan. Both Jilda and I plugged it into our phones and planners.
Today was a workday for me, but at 8:45, I forwarded my calls and headed to the park. At nine sharp, a herd of kids walked across the road to the park. For a few hours, we helped the teachers and other chaperones keep an eye on about a hundred rowdy first graders. It was a joyful day.
I tried not to hamper the fun by taking a lot of pictures, but I had to take a few. The first picture is of Jordan and two of his friends. The second picture is him with his teacher Mr. Key.
I think he was sad when the picnic was over because he understood that he wouldn't see most of his friends until the fall.
I hope your day was as joyful as mine.
You guys are something else. How good of you guys to chaperon the kids. I enjoyed the read. Thanks...
ReplyDeleteI think too much how can Mr. Key be a teacher? I am sure he is a senior in HS (smile) I think that is age showing (mine). :-)
ReplyDeleteOne hundred rowdy first graders! On persons joy is another persons nightmare...mine. Glad you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteYou are great to help out like that. Volunteers are hard to find sometimes with everyone working and they surely are needed when it comes to events like that.
ReplyDeleteHow old is your niece now? She could probably be in a line of work that requires organization and she would love it. I am glad you spent time helping out. It would not be my fun thing to watch over all those children...I would need some wine after:)
ReplyDeleteThat shouldn't be a problem as long as the wine was available!!
DeleteI'm impressed with the planning that your niece exhibits in her daily life.
ReplyDeleteAmazing....(and I'm envious....I should be a better planner.)
You have set a good example to your niece Samantha. I like being organized but my husband is totally the opposite of me. I'm sure that Jordan will have a great summer with you guys.
ReplyDeleteJB
You have set a great example I am a list maker and this has been passed on to my girls
ReplyDelete