I Guess There’s A Kid In All Of Us

There’s a little two-year-old guy at the Training Station that always calls me “Man.”  While all the other kids call me “Pastor Nathan” or some variation of that name (such as “Bouncy Efan,” “Master Neeson,” or “Kafran Afan”), this little guy simply calls me “Man.”  When he’s on the playground he’ll sit in one of the Jeeps or plop down in a swing, and when he sees me outside he’ll start yelling very loudly, “MAN!  MAN!  HEY MAN!!!”  I’ll push him for a few minutes and when I stop he’ll inevitably start yelling again, “Man!  Push us, Man!”

Finally one day I told him that if he kept calling me “Man,” I would start calling him “Kid.”  As I was explaining this to him, he was looking at me very intently, and I could see in his eyes that he was really thinking about this, really processing it in his two-year-old mind.

About ten minutes later he sat down in one of the swings, spotted me halfway across the playground, and shouted, “HEY!  BIG KID!”

Published in: on February 28, 2009 at 5:02 am  Comments (2)  

My Most Important Appointment

Sunday evening I got a phone call from my little friend Mandi.  She’s a six-year-old first-grader at Seaside Christian School.  At first I wasn’t sure why she was calling, so I asked her a few questions and we just kind of chatted for a couple minutes.  Then, during a pause, she said, “Pastor Nathan, will you be my pastor at my school for Pastor Appreciation Day?”  (Seaside has a day once a year when kids invite their pastors to school and they have lunch and visit the classrooms.)

You can imagine my response.  I cancelled my appointments with pope and president to make sure I’d be there.  After we finished talking and she said, “Bye!” we both started to hang up, but not before I heard her announcing to her parents very matter-of-factly: “He said okay.”

I was just thinking that her dad, my good friend Daryl, had put her up to it.  But before I could even finish thinking that, Daryl called back and said, “Dude, I did not put her up to that!”  The day before, she’d mentioned wanting to call me, and on Sunday, she insisted on having her dad’s phone to call me.  Isn’t that precious?!?

Tell ya what, I don’t care what else happens between now and the end of February–that totally made my month!

See you Friday, Mandi!

Published in: on February 17, 2009 at 1:21 pm  Leave a Comment  

A Girl After My Own Heart

I have a new favorite kid.

This week we’ve had a Scholastic Book Fair at the Training Station, and some of the parents have helped out by volunteering to run it in shifts.  This afternoon there was a little girl who’s barely four years old, and her mom was working the book fair.  As they were getting ready to close it up for the day, the girl said, “Mom?”

Her mom asked, “What?”

And the little girl answered, “I love books!”

I knew there was something special about that kid.

Published in: on February 5, 2009 at 2:23 pm  Leave a Comment  

Not What It Appears

Now this is funny.  You just gotta read it.  Make sure you look at the picture before reading the article.

Thanks to my friend Ty for sending this my way!

Published in: on January 29, 2009 at 1:25 pm  Comments (3)  

Our Youngest President Yet

Apparently the inauguration on Tuesday had an impact on at least one of Carolyn’s kindergarten students.

Yesterday one of her little boys came to school wearing a dress shirt, a tie, and slacks.  He’d picked out his own clothes that morning.  When he walked into the classroom, he proudly announced to Carolyn: “I’m the President!”

When Carolyn asked what he would do as President, he smiled, waved, and said, “Wave.”

Published in: on January 22, 2009 at 1:07 pm  Leave a Comment  

Another Reason Why My Nephew Kevin Totally Rocks

The other day my sister-in-law, Kristi, was explaining to my three-year-old nephew, Kevin, that he was supposed to take something that starts with the letter W to school for show-and-tell.

Kevin thought for a minute and said, “I know what I’ll bring!”

“What?” his mom asked.

He answered enthusiastically: “A wacecar!”

Published in: on January 16, 2009 at 5:47 am  Leave a Comment  

Big D

Tonight is the big game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens.  It’s an important game for both squads.  I like both teams, but of course I hope the Cowboys emerge victorious.

On Wednesday I was wearing my Tony Romo jersey and the kids at the preschool kept asking me why I was wearing a “football shirt.”  Naturally, this opened up numerous opportunities to indoctrinate them into the world of Dallas Cowboys fandom.

It backfired once, though.  I was explaining to one little guy who recently turned four that the Cowboys are the best team.  Knowing that his whole family are huge Ravens fans, I added, “In fact, the Cowboys are going to beat the Ravens this Saturday.”

“No they’re not,” he said as he shook his head.

“Why do you say that?”  I asked.

He answered, “Because the Ravens defense is too tough.”

It’s hard trying to argue with a four-year-old who knows what he’s talking about.

Published in: on December 20, 2008 at 2:28 pm  Leave a Comment  

What Kids Are Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving!  Here’s the official Top 10 List of Things That the Three-Year-Olds at the Training Station Are Thankful For, according to some colorful paper turkeys they made:

(10) “coloring with markers”

(9) “monster trucks”

(8) “non-spicy pizza”

(7) “the color purple”

(6) “my softer Spiderman toy that Daddy won for me”

(5) “oranges and grapes and soup too”

(4) “Morris, a pet that has spots and is happy”

(3) “ducks because they are yellow”

(2) “the number 2″

(1) “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

Published in: on November 27, 2008 at 1:25 pm  Leave a Comment  

Preschool at NASA

Another teacher was helping her children learn to count backwards.  All the kids shouted together: “Three! Two! One!”  And then one kid shouted: “BLAST OFF!!!”

Published in: on November 11, 2008 at 11:44 am  Leave a Comment  

The Real Name of the Pilgrims’ Boat

One of the teachers at the Training Station was teaching her preschool kids about the Pilgrims.  She asked them if anyone knew the name of the boat they took across the ocean.  One little guy said: “The cauliflower!”

Published in: on November 11, 2008 at 11:42 am  Leave a Comment  
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