Kids will be your first friends, and you might be surprised to find, often offer more thoughtful conversation that the adults. You gotta love them, because they love you, and they´ve got nowhere else to be.
It is 7 o´clock in the morning. I have just sat down to eat some breakfast, and my first visitor arrives.
¨Cati, que está comiendo?¨ Cati, what are you eating?
¨Huevos.¨ Eggs. I shoot her a look, I generally find visits before 8 a.m. an assault on courtesy.
¨Eso está rico para usted?¨ That tastes good to you? They are unimpressed with what I eat. It lacks rice, boiled plantains, and any kind of meat. They say I eat simple. My neighbors enjoy telling me they have a higher standard of living than I do, because they actually know how to eat. Cati no sabe. What´s more, the portions I chose for my self are far too small. How can I be full if I have not consumed 3 pounds of boiled starches? How does one survive?
¨Hay más café?¨ Is there anymore coffee?
And that´s when I tell them to go away. It is too early.
But if I am home during the day, they arrive constantly, and most time it´s usually easier to let them in than to try to explain. Elementary students only have school until noon, and many nearby four and five year olds aren´t enrolled yet, so their mothers are happy to send them my way as soon as the sun rises. After reluctantly realizing shortly after moving into my house that these children would not be leaving anytime soon, I started offering them some crayons and paper. I bought them a couple of puzzles, and was delighted to find that they will generally play quietly and let me read or get some chores done.
The parents call what I do ¨giving class.¨ One woman saw the completed coloring book sheets I had taped up on my wall (gifts from adoring students) and very quietly asked if I draw all of those by myself for the children to color in. How wonderful she would have thought I was if I had said yes! Instead, I soberly explained what a coloring book is.
It can be annoying, having kids arriving all day long and demanding to color. But I´ve always loved kids, and sometimes they brighten my days immeasurably. One day, I was sitting in my hammock planning an English lesson for my adult class while two brothers, 5 and 3, drew at my table. They suddenly thought it would be a good idea to start yelling ¨Hola Cati,¨ come running over, and give me kisses on the cheek in quick succession. Hola Cati! Kiss. Hola Cati! Kiss. Repeat. They did this several dozen times until I remembered the values of good classroom management and told them to please go back to their seats.
I always try to encourage them, because positive reinforcement is not something they get a lot of in the house. At Cati´s, every picture is beautiful, and every child is an artist. However, they love it so much, that they literally will make one small mark on the paper and hold it up for my approval over and over. I have started asking them to please complete the entire picture before asking my opinion. As they get ready to go home, they always say, ¨Calíficalo, Cati!¨ Grade it! So I do, and they all get 5s, the Panamanian A.
Papito, the newest and most enthusiastic member of Cati´s Coloring Club.
When was the last time you went to visit someone with only your underwear on, or better yet, nothing on at all? I told him if he expects to sit on my stools, he will need to come in some undies next time. He hasn´t forgotten!
