{AMISH COMMUNITY NEWS}
Vol. 3 No. 12
October 5, 2011
Lessons Learned–In School and Out
A Lesson Learned Submitted by Sarah Miller
(This is a true happening as told by a nephew. It happened when he was around 10 years old.) At that time this boy and his family lived on a farm, working on the Clark farm on Route 534. His grandparents lived on a farm on Route 422, west of Parkman. One day my sister and her children drove the 10 miles to Grandpa’s. Well, Grandpa wasn’t home (or so thought this boy). So he decided to do some exploring. First stop was the woodshed where he stood in awe of all the hams and bacons that were hanging
from the beams on nails. Next stop? The pigpen, that looked interesting with the little corncrib on one side and the steps down to pig level, the trough so handy for feeding. Hummm, neat! Now, what else the boy thought as he left the pigpen … and, then, he saw IT! A big, flat round stone with irons on each side that fastened onto what looked like pedals. Near the stone was a seat. The boy was blissfully pedaling away when an ominous presence grabbed him by the ear. He couldn’t say he was pulled from that contraption by his ear, as he
removed himself in what could be described as a rocket fashion! When he returned to earth he was still trying to determine if this could possibly be something that stood on two legs. Then it slowly turned my head towards it … and there stood Grandpa!!!! To describe what that particular part of his anatomy was enduring, “excruciating” came to his mind. And so, a lesson was learned that day … learned without words. It was, “You may NOT play with Grandpa’s tools!”
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Lessons Taught Are Not Necessariy the Lessons Learned Sometimes the lessons we think were learned by our children have become warped by the child’s ears! For example, the parent of an 8 year old asked what he had learned in Sunday school that day. The boy said he learned that Moses led the Jews to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread which was bread without any ingredients. Another mom was surprised when her 7 year old daughter told her that Moses went up to Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments. Sometimes when we try to help our youngsters learn, we get a response that reminds us that they do not necessarily see the world as we do. For example, the story is told of a grandmother who wanted to teach her 5 year old granddaughter what life was like in her own childhood. She said, “We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made
from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods.” The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, “I sure wish I’d gotten to know you sooner!” Another story is told of a mother who wanted to be sure her 5 year old son knew his colors before starting kindergarten. So she would point out something and ask what color it was. Her son would tell her and was always correct. Finally, tired of his mother’s “game”, the little boy said, “Mom, I think you should try to figure out some of these colors yourself!”
Continued on page 3 Our next issue of Plain Country is Oct. 26. Submission deadline is Monday, Oct. 10. Advertising deadline is Oct. 3. Please send the information to share to Plain Country, P.O. Box 626, Middlefield, OH 44062, or call 440-632-0782 or fax to 440-834-8933.