Little Pitchers

 

A reprint of an article from 1998 in memory of my dear Aunt Nina who joined our family in heaven this week.

Little Pitchers

October 1998

Scrambling to prepare a treat for my class, I asked my student-teacher to take the students to the lavatory while I continued to fill little paper cups with frosted cereal. As they exited, I lined up fifty cups and began to pour cereal. Rushing to finish before the children returned, I bumped one cup causing several others to spill over domino-style. 

“Oh, sugar,” I grumped aloud and then laughed at my apt curse at the little frosted Os. Just then, I heard a chair shuffle and looked up to so one student sitting in his seat.

Startled, I asked, “Whey didn’t you go to the bathroom with the class?” Well, it turned out that the student-teacher had sent him back early for some hall misbehavior. I went back to filling my cups giving silent thanks for having a clean mouth.

An old saying goes, “Little pitchers have big ears.” While I don’t know the origin of this saying, I do understand its meaning. Children learn by seeing and hearing what the adults around them do and say. A tragedy had been averted because my student did not hear an unsavory word come out of my mouth. No expletives to explain. Just an innocent child hearing a silly teacher wonder at her clumsiness.

A tragedy you say? How could a casual curse hurt a child? After all, “They hear worse every day on the bus.” Maybe they do, but they won’t hear it from me. Impolite speech hurts others. I am in the business of teaching children to help and encourage one another. I try to model these virtues at all times. It’s hard, but it helps.

Years ago, I began a “pick up what you didn’t drop” policy in my class. Having heard, “I didn’t drop it,” enough after asking students to pick up a piece of paper or a pencil, I modeled bending over and picking them up myself, subtly pointing out to students that I was picking up what I had not dropped. It worked. My students now happily pick up dropped items and return them. 

My aunt Nina taught high school students who had been removed from other classes for behavior issues. Aunt Nina (all 4’11 of her) commanded respect from those tough guys. I asked her how she did it. She explained that she always and everywhere remembered that she was the example of an upstanding citizen for her students to emulate. She acted the part of a no-nonsense, to-be-respected teacher everywhere she went too.

“It’s just as important to be respectable outside of school as inside,” she taught them. “Respect yourself and others will respect you.”

A parent’s life is a child’s guidebook. Our children watch us. They see what we do and hear what we say in all circumstances. They hear us curse out the inconsiderate driver. They see us drop trash on the sidewalk. They listen when we disparage our neighbors. And they learn, oh, how they learn. Just ride that bus.

No one is perfect. When we stumble in our roles as models, we can stop and tell our children that we are sorry. I have had to apologize many times for exercising my “jumping to conclusions,” muscles in class. But a sincere apology coming from someone you expect to do the right thing outweighs a compulsory, “Hey, I’m sorry,” from someone you’ve seen tripping over the same obstacles time and again.

Remember those little pitchers. Big eyes and ears are everywhere. 

Reviewed in 2022 in memory of Aunt Nina who was a model for us all. 

Respectable and respected her whole life.