All I really needed to know about life I learned in Kindergarten

I have a very fond childhood memory. I must have been about 5 years old and it was probably the first competition I ever entered. You know, one of those competitive sports days that teach you how to develop character and attune fine motor skills? There was an egg and spoon race, and an activity that required us to spell out words using letters inked-out on the inside of old bottle top cans, and then carefully tossed and shuffled into a plastic bag. One you’d completed your words (you’d have to have had no more bottle tops left if you did it accurately), you had to run to the finish line and claim your prize. Or be proclaimed as the winner.

On this day, I recall clearly how I’d completed the task about at-least a good few minutes before the other children around me, but for some reason, I just didn’t take the first step towards the finish line. I froze instead, and watched all the others around me, work through their words. Amidst a slight commotion, I happened to notice the stage entertainer yelling out my name and waving rather frantically at my mother, who by this time was approaching me with a rather puzzled expression.

She told me later, that she’d planned to take my hand and run with me towards the finish line. That never happened though. Somehow, through all the confusion, I focused for a few seconds on the encouragement and cheering I’d heard from the man on the mic. I think that’s when I decided to run, all by myself, towards a skew shaped finish line. All the while, ignoring the staggering gazes and gasps of disappointment I heard from my fellow participants and their friends and families in the audience.

When I grew not too much older, my parents told me the story about the little red hen who lived on a farm. She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat and noisy yellow duck. One day, the little red hen decided to bake bread, but of-course, she had no flour! She did however, have a few seeds which she could plant to grow wheat. And so the little red hen asked her friends, “who will help me plant the seeds?”

Not I, barked the lazy dog.

Not I, purred the sleepy cat.

Not I, quacked the noisy yellow duck.

And so the stories goes that at each stage, (the harvest, the thrashing, the milling, and the baking) the little red hen asked for help from her friends, and at each stage her friends said no. Then one fine day, when she had toiled the fields and harvested the wheat. When she had milled it and bought her milk. She baked her bread, and when it was ready she asked, “who will help me eat my bread?”

I will, barked the lazy dog.

I will, purred the sleepy cat.

I will, quacked the noisy yellow duck.

No you won’t, I will. Said the hen.

Much much later in life, I came across a book titled “all I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten“, by Robert Fulghum. It’s truly a lovely read and speaks about some of the most basic life lessons, which we learn at such a tender age.

Share everything, play fair, wash your hands.

Live a balanced life, say sorry.

Play fair, laugh at yourself, love thyself.

It was this book which brought me to the conscious realization that I’d used the two significant stories I’ve just shared, to navigate quite a few of my life choices. I only may have realized this is hindsight, but the one thing both these encounters taught me is the fact that sometimes in life, you may find people that will inspire and guide you to reach your goals. People who see you as a gorgeous empty shoe-box, ready to be filled with wonder, confidence and value. But then sometimes there are those who only come to the party once the bread has been baked. Whilst you might be different to the little red hen and allow them to eat at your table, there’s no denying that the other times in life, you might just have to be your own hero <3

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