Monday, November 05, 2007
Breakfast and Ballerinas by Jon Hatch
There’s a wee girl who comes to the breakfast club that we run at Malvern Primary School. The first thing I noticed about her is that she doesn’t ever eat anything.
The second thing I noticed is that she looks so sad. I don’t know why yet, and I don’t know if I ever will. But last Monday, she still didn’t eat anything, but I did get here to smile.
She was sitting on her own, over by a box of books on a far table. I noticed that one of the books on the table of her was from the children’s TV show Angelina Ballerina, which my daughter adores.
I sat down by her and opened the book.
‘My daughter loves Angelina Ballerina’, I said.
She was probably so stunned to see a grown man reading Angelina Ballerina, she burst out laughing.
One little boy just couldn’t make the connection. In a fit of comedic brilliance, he shouted at me, ‘You’re a girl!’
There are a lot of things that I could say that I do as a missionary in Northern Ireland.
As of Monday, I can also say that I make small children smile.
The second thing I noticed is that she looks so sad. I don’t know why yet, and I don’t know if I ever will. But last Monday, she still didn’t eat anything, but I did get here to smile.
She was sitting on her own, over by a box of books on a far table. I noticed that one of the books on the table of her was from the children’s TV show Angelina Ballerina, which my daughter adores.
I sat down by her and opened the book.
‘My daughter loves Angelina Ballerina’, I said.
She was probably so stunned to see a grown man reading Angelina Ballerina, she burst out laughing.
One little boy just couldn’t make the connection. In a fit of comedic brilliance, he shouted at me, ‘You’re a girl!’
There are a lot of things that I could say that I do as a missionary in Northern Ireland.
As of Monday, I can also say that I make small children smile.
