And the Children Shall Lead Them....

I was in the classroom all day today. I feel extremely exhausted, but my mind is racing with all the things I learned from the kids today. The funniest situation was a young boy and girl in my class who "like each other a lot", according to them.

Brownie (the young girl) got mad at boisterous (the young boy) at the beginning of play time because boisterous was playing with the other boys and was not playing with her. She pouted in the corner while he looked at her rather confused for a second, then he ran off to continue his playing. Then later, brownie looked at boisterous and said, "I'm not your friend anymore." Again, boisterous looked a bit bewildered. Sometime later, when new groups had been formed and new games were underway, boisterous found himself alone. He went and laid down on the pillows, and Brownie came over just to lay beside him.

The whole interaction made me question myself. At first I thought it was kind of funny, how Brownie got offended that boisterous wasn't spending quality time with her. It seemed just too "precious." Then I thought..."Hang on, why is it funny when little kids do it, but so serious when it happens to grown ups??" This squabble was something that anyone who has ever dated has probably been guilty of. The girl gets jealous because the boy is hanging out with other people. The boy acts dumb and can't possibly understand why the girl is upset. The girl gives in and falls all over the boy once he's by himself again.

What I'm wondering is, did the kids learn this from watching grown-ups, or did the grow-ups learn it from watching the kids?? The actions seem extremely childish to me; however, I know many many adults who act this same way when it comes to relationships. So who is teaching who now??