wednesday bonus blog: "i thought we were pretending!?!?!"

so today . . . i am going to repost the blog that gave me my first experience with negative comments.

generally, i don't like negative comments. what is the point? when someone blogs, they are just sharing their thoughts and opinions. if you don't like those thoughts and opinions, then stop reading the blog! there are probably millions of blogs out there--enough that certainly everyone should be able to find several that they enjoy reading. and that is what the blogger wants to hear--what do you like? what did it make you think about? what made you laugh? negative comments just start a war in the comment area, and everyone ends up feeling irritated.

when i wrote the following blog, i thought it was a funny story, so the comments surprised me. i thought, "no wait--they have missed the point of the story." but read the original blog first, and then we will go to the comments. i originally posted this on sunday, october 19, 2008.

preschoolers--their minds just don't work the same as ours! so one morning last week before school really started, i was watching the kids play. i was sitting at a table watching 3 and 4 year olds trying to master scissors. (you would be amazed at how many ways there are to hold a pair of scissors!) one little girl came clear across the room from the "kitchen" area to bring me a cup of "coffee." now i am guessing that the adults around her would be delighted with a cup of coffee, but since i do not like coffee, my response probably perplexed her a bit. "yuck," i said. "i don't like coffee. can you bring me something else to drink?" she looked at me blankly, and then went back to the kitchen. a few minutes later she returned with a cup of "milk." "yum," i said. "but you know what would be really good? if you took this cup of milk back to the kitchen and heated it up and added some chocolate and sugar. then you know what we would have? we would have hot chocolate!" now i am feeling pretty proud of myself and how i have turned this simple little interaction into a learning opportunity, until she looks at me and replies, "we don't have any chocolate or sugar in our kitchen!"

when i wrote this blog, i thought it was a funny story. i thought people would read it and laugh. but here are the comments i got . . .

--"ok. you're just being demanding. i'm surprised your little girl didn't take your order into the kitchen and "spit" in your hot chocolate..."
--"That's what you get for not liking coffee! How could anyone not like coffee? And in the end who got the education? I agree, I would have spit in your milk! Ahahaha!"
--"UH, teacher, I was just pretending....can't you PRETEND to like coffee."
--"I understand how you don't like coffee :) And I understand how you would want to make her think outside the box a little... granted, I work with teenagers. So maybe I don't count."

i have to say, i was somewhat surprised by these comments. now these were all made by people i know and like, so i am pretty sure that they were just giving me a hard time . . . but still, it kind of made me feel annoyed. (probably i was feeling cranky already when i read the comments, which didn't help!) so the next day i posted this:

ok, judging by your hostile comments, i think that some of you MISSED THE POINT of my last blog. yes, i could have just said "thank you for the coffee" and moved on, but i was trying to get her to do something different than what she usually does when she plays in the kitchen--because that's what teachers do--we help to expand a child's mind. but judging by some of your harsh remarks, i guess next time i will just say thanks and move on . . . sheesh! i have two more funny stories, but now i'm not so sure you will enjoy them. i guess you will just have to wait and see . . .

and then i spent a few days recovering my usually pleasant disposition before writing again . . .

here's the thing--i want my blog to be a fun and safe place. so keep that in mind when you comment. i do have a couple of friends who like to torment and mock me, because it's just how we show love :) but they always put their names on so i know it is them. i will probably start being a little more selective with anonymous comments if they edge into unkind areas. i want to "share the love" not the snarkiness. but keep the comments coming . . . just like you look forward to reading my blog everyday, i look forward to reading your comments!

and maybe next week i will post the other two stories--my five year olds are really funny!!