The kindergarten teacher was showing her class an encyclopedia page picturing
several national flags. She pointed to the American flag and asked, "What flag is
this?" A little girl called out, "That's the flag of our country." "Very good,"
the teacher said. "And what is the name of our country?" 'Tis of thee," the girl
said confidently. After putting her children to bed, a mother changed into old slacks and a
droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting
more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. At last she threw a towel
around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern
warnings. As she left the room, she heard her three-year-old say with a trembling
voice, "Who was that?" Two little boys were visiting their grandfather, and he took them to a
restaurant for lunch. They couldn't make up their minds about what they wanted to
eat. Finally the grandfather grinned at the server and said, "Just bring them
bread and water." One of the little boys looked up and quavered, "Can I have
ketchup on it?" A new neighbor asked the little girl next door if she had any brothers and
sisters. She replied, "No, I'm the lonely child." A mother was telling her little girl what her own childhood was like: "We
used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a
tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the
woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure
wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!" My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you
and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No, how are we
alike?" "You're both old," he replied. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her father's word processor.
She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't
know," she replied. "I can't read." I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to
test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell
me, and always she was correct. But it was fun for me, so I continued. At last
she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to
figure out some of these yourself!" A ten-year-old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite
knowledgeable about the Bible. Then one day she floored her grandmother by
asking, "Which Virgin was the mother of Jesus: the Virgin Mary or the King James
Virgin?" A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to
discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was.
Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers
off thy neighbor's wife."
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