The Latte That Went to School

A long time ago in a galaxy far away when my children were small and not yet in school, I would often take them on a dad breakfast to McDonalds. We’d talk about stuff like being kind, helping Mom, loving one another, knowing Jesus … then we’d move on the the really important stuff like which Matchbox car was best, or which baby doll was behaving. Sometimes we even made up stories. The kids did most of the telling, and I’d write it down on a napkin. One of them has survived at least 20 years (mostly on the refrigerator door) and the “author” just framed it and gave it to me as a gift. (We had just moved to Seattle and were amazed with the frenzy over expensive coffee).

One day a latte got bored with being a dumb ole’ latte. He decided to go to school! So … he foamed himself to the brim and went of to Margaret Mead Elementary School. Sadly all the children treated him mean – they laughed at him and said “lattes don’t go to school” and the called him “foam head”.

He ignored them but it didn’t work so he foamed them. Finally he realized that he didn’t have a brain so he went to the principal to find out what to do. The principal drank him down – and boy was he happy – he did what he was made to do! So that’s how the latte went to school.

The end.

Not bad for a four-year-old. It even has a great lesson. I wish I had saved more of their stories … maybe we could have written a book.

Another Random Thursday

A few more random things from around the web:

Thsrs (on the Ironic Sans weblog) is the place to go when you need a shorter word. Like when you want to sound ‘pretentious’, but think that ‘showy’ fits better. Ironicsans.com is a pretty cool random site in itself. You might enjoy the 60 second films (but you may need to be ironic to get it).

Always remember that you’re unique, just like everyone else.

If the economy has you a bit discouraged, this tool might be encouraging … or convicting.

Playing here could kill a couple of minutes when bored. Go ahead … click the link, then click and drag.

and finally, a device for the sterotypical blond …

Will the Worship Wars Come to This?

Thanks to Anne Jackson for pointing out the next phase of the worship wars. If you have a T-shirt it must be real. Right? You’ll have to decide for yourself if LarkNews or their “store” is real.

The Scariest Reality Show

I’m not sure why we missed this television event – the reality show that makes all others seem tame. Yep … I’m talking Jon and Kate plus 8. The real adventures of a family of 10 … mom, dad, twin girls, and sextuplets (three boys, three girls). I’m not sure how much parenting skill you can learn … in some ways its like parental survivor (though with all the activity may Amazing Race is a better metaphor).

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you might kiss progeny good-bye. Linda (aka Mrs. Random) and I laugh a lot – but then again our kids don’t live with us any more!

By the way, the Gosslins are Christians, who made a difficult biblical choice, and seem to have a wonderful church that lovingly supports and encourages. Check out their family story here.

Helping Children Understand Autism

A long time ago (or so it seems) one of my youth ministry colleagues had a profoundly autistic child. I really had no idea of what the issue was, but it was incredibly difficult for their family and friends. While we have lost track of our fellow-workers we have not forgotten our introduction to autism. It was pretty cool to discover that Briana Pacelli had actually written a book for children about understanding autism. Briana is a bright young woman of many talents who just graduated from high school. She attends our church and plays in the worship band sometimes. The Kindergarten Adventures of Amazing Grace: What in the World is Autism was her senior project. Her younger brother (who was diagnosed with autism at age 5) is the illustrator. It is a cute story about understanding and accepting children who are different – and might help a few adults as well as kids. There seems to be a lot in the news about this issue. I like that Briana took time to learn about it and help others do the same.