A Year of JellyBean Worthy Decisions

So here we are April 30, 2019, one year after I struggled to explain to my Pre-K daughter the importance of May 1st in the world of higher education. What started as an MVP of what I thought was to help my daughter to make better decisions, has turned out to have a major impact on my life. What a crazy trip around the sun the last year has been.

It turns out that the JellyBean Jar has taught me more then it has taught Avery. I am lucky in that Avery takes after her mother and is naturally pretty good at making the right decision. I must say there have only been a handful of times that she did not earn her jellybean. It was a fewer number of times then Daddy for sure. Each time she understood exactly why she didn't earn it and we discussed each time in detail. The surprising thing is that this year made me realize is that I never stood a chance. Avery had an unfair advantage. She was going into kindergarten. It turns out that it really is true, All I need to Know I learned in Kindergarten. As I reached 50 this year, I had to relearn parts of number 11 along the way. The JellyBean Jar really helped me with that.

Will focusing so much on Number 11 turn out to be a good decision? It is too early to tell, but the early indicators are that in the long run, it may make all the difference.

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):

1. Share everything.

2. Play fair.

3. Don't hit people.

4. Put things back where you found them.

5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.

6. Don't take things that aren't yours.

7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.

8. Wash your hands before you eat.

9. Flush.

10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

12. Take a nap every afternoon.

13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.” 

― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten