Hula Anybody?

Does this happen in your family?  When you tell one story, does another related story come up, followed by more of the same? After I posted about family religion, Cousin Carla offered this story about her son’s introduction to a Christian preschool. It fits nicely with our family’s religious values, so I thought we would share it with you.

Noah had just completed preschool and was on his way to kindergarten when Carla decided he was just not quite ready. She decided to give him the advantage of an extra year at an academic preschool. There were not many choices, and the local Christian preschool seemed to offer the best academic program. Carla, being a good attentive mom, wanted to make sure Noah was ready for the rigorous work of kindergarten, so she enrolled him in the program.

Carla was happy with the curriculum being offered and was reasonably happy with the teacher, but she was confused by some of the ways the children were disciplined. For example, one day when she went to pick Noah up from preschool, one of his classmates was sitting under the large reading table at the back of the room. The table was decorated like Snoopy’s dog house with a small door for crawling in and out.  At first, thinking, “Oh, they are pretending they are dogs,” she bent down and peered through the door, offering a cheerful, “Hi!”  She was quickly admonished by the teacher and told to not talk to the boy, as he was in the “dog house”.  It seemed he had not been quiet during the snack time blessing, offending God Almighty himself, and was now in the dog house pondering his evil ways.

A few days later, Carla showed up to pick Noah up from school and was met by the classroom assistant, who escorted her, heart pounding, swiftly to the principal’s office where Noah and his teacher were waiting. As she entered the office, she first noted with relief that Noah was alive and well. She then noticed that Noah appeared quite calm, while the teacher and principal seemed crazed and agitated. The principle sternly looked at Noah and told him to tell his mother what he had done wrong. Noah seemed bewildered at the idea that he had done anything wrong.

The teacher then dramatically explained (but without an actual demonstration) what had happened.  Apparently there was some silliness going on in the classroom, so the teacher sat the children down to pray about how they should behave, and how unhappy Jesus would be if he saw them laughing and giggling during their very serious preschool day. Keep in mind; most of these kids were barely five years old and not well-acquainted with the more serious side of life.

Noah had sat down to pray to Jesus, but it seems, perhaps because he was once a silly boy himself, Jesus led Noah down a different prayer path.  After a couple of minutes of praying, Noah leapt from his seat, jumped up on his chair, stepped onto his desk, put his hands on his head and started swing his hips around in circles. Can you picture a five year-old boy getting ready to do what must have looked like a strip tease in front of Jesus and everyone? Of course, that is not what Noah had in mind.

Trying to keep her laughter from bubbling over, Carla asked Noah why on earth he would act this way. Not missing a beat, Noah replied,  “Well Mommy, sometimes you just have to do the hula!”  At that moment Carla realized, she could not have agreed more. Some days you DO just have to hula!

Noah’s brief days with the Christian preschool were over, although Carla felt sure they continued to pray for their souls long after they left. It was time to move to a preschool with a curriculum and teacher who understood the value of a good hula.

So remember, the next time you find you are taking yourself, or others, or the world around you much too seriously, just jump up and hula because, as Noah said with all the wisdom of a preschooler not quite ready for kindergarten, “SOME DAYS YOU JUST HAVE TO HULA.” And if other people don’t get it, well to Hula with them!

Odd Loves Company,