A World Beyond Class Clowns and School Yard Bullies

Every day it appears we become more and more a country defined by our school yard bullies and class clowns. This morning I woke up thinking of Robert Fulghum and the kind, gentle, and sage thoughts he shared with us some 35 years ago. He explained to us that all we really needed to know we learned in Kindergarten: 

1. Share everything 2. Play fair 3. Don't hit people 4. Put things back where you found them 5. CLEAN UP YOUR MESS 6. Don't take things that aren't yours. 7. Say you're SORRY when you hurt somebody. 8. Wash your hands before you eat. 9. Flush. 10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. 11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some. 12. Take a nap every afternoon 13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. 14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam up: The Roots go down and plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. 15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. 16. And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word we learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK 

One of my favorite folksingers, John McCutcheon, wrote a song inspired by Fulghum's words.