Kids Who Are Different
Digby Wolfe
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers’,
And noses that go on for days.
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don’t fit, with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
for when they have grown, as history’s shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.
CALVIN AND HOBBES © Watterson. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. Reprinted with Permission. All rights reserved.
4 comments:
Amen! This was one thing I had a terrible time with in elementary and middle school so I have a hard time tolerating my kids or their friends being unkind to others. They probably have the lecture memorized at this point...
What is interesting about this poem (which I really like and have never heard before seeing this post), is that throughout most of the poem it refers to 'kids' and then in the last lines it asks why we as PEOPLE can't be nice to each other. It's not just kids that can be and are mean to one another, but even we as adults struggle with this...which is harder for me to understand than with children, because they are at the stages of learning such important values and codes of life.
I am trying so hard not just to be kind to everyone, but to be kinder and more understanding than what I initially see of what might need to be done. I don't know if this makes sense, but growing up whenever I, or my sisters, did something and would give the excuse that "we didn't MEAN to" do such and such...my dad's response would be, Well, MEAN NOT TO!" That has stayed with me, more than I realized and so now I'm trying to remind my mind to be kinder than I think I can (like when someone hasn't been so kind and I feel that something should be said in retribution), to be more loving than I myself am shown, and to be more understanding of others than I am understood. I have hope and faith that if I really try to do these things, that I will find the peace in my own heart that it won't matter what comes at me, I can only be sure that what comes from me is the very best and what I want to share with others.
Good luck with your class...I know how hard it is when others actions and feelings make the overall experience rather unbearable for everyone. Thankfully they have a great example and someone that is also willing to take the time and patience to teach such important life skills, instead of just focusing on the academia that they will be tested on. Ultimately it is our job as parents, but as you well know there are some parents that just are missing the boat...thank you for being such a great teacher that this is as big of a concern for you as what grades your students are getting!
(another novel by Summer)
Gerb,
Sometimes a lecture is in order...even for grownups.
Lord of Summer,
Sorry, the PEOPLE line was actually mine...I liked what your dad said when you were a kid, you know, to mean not to. That is something I'd never thought about before but which makes perfect sense.
You always put so much into all that you do. I love the way you reach out, and make a difference. You are a great example to not only kids, but us grown ups!
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