Peter and the Wolf

"Once upon a time there was a shepherd boy..."
We all know how this one begins. When was the last time you heard it though? Young Peter, the village's keeper of the sheep is off to another day of ho-hum, blase, mindless sheep-tending. The way this teacher looks at this is that Peter has too much time on his hand and has very active mind...he is bored. He is also craving excitement in his life needlessly. (Not the good kind.) Peter is also into ," THE DRAMA", as they say.

Each school year around this time Miss Trish, (head 3-year old teacher), and myself are reminded about our old friend "Peter" and his self-induced drama. WE begin to hear quite frequently from the same friends..."I need to go to the bathroom." Averaging about 5x in the first part of either yoga, morning meeting, or perhaps a story. (Leading to believe either our friends are having more coffee than us before their EDS day or we may need to serve them cranberry juice for snack). Neither is correct, and I am obviously using sarcasm to say that we know "our EDS Peters". Those that feel the urge to spice things when they are having trouble keeping their eyes on their fries....they want an out from the road they should be on.

Quite frequently, we notice this "Head-Hitting" when we begin Chapel. hmmmm. So, the other day Trish announces..."Well Miss Dawn, I think its time to pull out Peter and the Wolf!" "Yes,Indeed. Miss Trish". While reading the story as I have more than 100x I began to "accent" the parts I want to drive home. It is amazing though...a simple children's classic is always your best teaching tool to all parties!

It is sad. Peter really is aching and seeking negative attention. To briefly remind you, Peter is contemplating this drama thinking, "Wouldn't it be exciting if a real wolf did come into the pasture??" His thoughts were of folks running to his rescue...saving the sheep....waiting to see who would makeover him the most thinking of his compromised safety...." SO...he tries it! "WOLF... WOLF! There is wolf stealing our sheep!!!!" And without hesitation..."SUCCESS" Everyone dropped what they were happily doing and ran to Peter's rescue! Peter was so delighted with himself he couldn't stop giggling...he giggled right in front of the very people who trusted him. They were upset. They were relieved that it was only a prank and perhaps took comfort in the fact that he was just a boy, doing boy things.
The next day... guess what? He did it again. Same exact thing...his drama was working for him...so why not? Crying wolf got people to stop and pay attention to what he was doing. Crying wolf was still funny. Crying wolf was feeling comfortable for Peter. He cried. People came. (There is a part where Peter's mother is actually falling to pieces over Peter's unsafe environment....

Those that came to Peter's rescue again...were hurt. They bought the story again. They believed the cry for help. Their trust was compromised. Peter continued giggling.....however....dunt...dunt...dunt.... SO WAS THE WOLF! A wolf had been watching this drama the entire time. He decided HE needed to shake things up..."Why not earn that reputation?"
Well. we do know the end of this tale. Sadly. Peter confesses in the beginning of our story that he never ACTUALLY has seen a wolf before,not to mention what a wolf could ACTUALLY do!
When Peter screamed for the very help he wanted he wasn't trusted any more. Nobody came running. It is a heartbreaking tale of trust.
The looks on the children's faces after reading our stories, parables, teachable moral moments are the facial expressions I live each day for in teaching. Those stories remind us all about why we really come to school!

Dawn M. Grinnell, Director EDS and Christian Formation