I checked my e-mails this morning and I had an e-mail from the village in Kenya. The Child Care Director passed along a recent happening, which she knew I would appreciate:
While the Rafiki employees met with the Village Director on Thursday afternoon, two MiniMissionaries (short-term staff) and two other ROS (Rafiki Overseas Staff, long-term) and I watched the 97 children as they played. It made me wish that I had some afternoon play time with the kids every day. The kids had fun blowing and chasing bubbles, rolling tires, running, kicking footballs (soccer balls) and talking with us. One conversation when something like this:
An unidentified voice- “Mrs. Patty Yoss, Randall is eating dirt.”
Me - “Randall, come here.”
Randall - “Yes, please.”
Me - “Randall, please don’t eat dirt. It’s not good for little boys to eat dirt.”
Johnson- “Mrs. Patty Yoss, is it good for little girls to eat dirt?”
Me - “No, Johnson. It’s not good for any children to eat dirt.”
Hannah- “Only thieves should eat dirt!”
Much laughter by all!
Meanwhile, a few nights ago we went out to dinner for mom's birthday. My nephew Rocco was there and I had the privilege of sitting next to him during the meal. He has recently become prone to roaring at just about anything as he believes he is a tiger. At the end of the meal, he turned to me and said in his little lispy voice, "You a lion and I'm a tiger, now roar!" So I roared somewhat quietly, however he missed the memo about roaring at an equal decibel which prompted half the restaurant turn around and look our way.
He then proceeded to go around the table, naming each person a particular animal name. I was a lion, he was a tiger, my dad was a puma (clearly this kid has been to the zoo a number of times as I don't know too many three year olds who know what a puma is), my mother was a cheetah. And then we got to the grandmothers and I thought, "Rocco, my friend, you better tread lightly when it comes to naming the matriarchs of the family."
You could tell he was giving it a great deal of thought what he would name my grandmothers. I just thought, "Dear Lord, please don't let the words rhino, hippo, or elephant come out of his mouth." He settled on a giraffe for my one grandmother, which she was quite pleased with because she jokingly said, "I'll take that, considering I'm neither tall nor skinny!" He then came to my other grandmother and I was anxiously waiting for what his animal choice would be and I could see he was on the verge of one of the dreaded three. So I leaned over and whispered, "Rocco, maybe she can be a panther." He looked at me and then he looked at her and said, "You can be a panther!"
Bullet dodged.
I'm sure the time will come when I have to explain to Rocco, too, that dirt is not to be eaten, whether in Africa or America.
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