-I love little children with a perfect love- Moroni 8:17

"There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear."

1 John 4:18

Today was a rough day at the elementary school with one of my little boys, but a great lesson was learned and my class was such a good example to me. I'll change his name so I won't get arrested for privacy issues =), and Aladdin seems suitable- except he doesn't need a rug to fly on because he can definitely fly all by himself! Aladdin is a 9 year old who is diagnosed with hyperactivity-impulsivity and has to be the cutest little boy in the world (well, other than the 6 boys in my Primary class). Just to give you an idea of him: He is unable to stop his immediate reactions, he blurts out inappropriate comments at any given moment, and displays his emotions without restraint. And if you were around Aladdin for any amount of time, you would fall in love with him and think he is the most adorable and frightening child you'd ever met! I only say frightening because you can honestly NEVER know what is coming next from him, but it's never been too out of the ordinary....until today. I always learn a lot from my kids, more than I could ever teach them, and today was one of those days where I appreciated how much experience I'm getting from being a babysitter of 12 kids!!!

I was doing a reading lesson with a couple kids at my table, when one of the children made a comment that the picture in the book looked like the Grim Reper. I'm not exactly sure what/who that even is, I think it's a Halloween thing, but something triggered in Aladdin's head and suddenly he was standing on top of his desk, gurgling and growling at the top of his lungs. Of course the whole room had completely stopped working and was watching him, but he wasn't listening to anything I was saying or paying attention to the other teacher. After he was finished leaping from desk to desk, he crash-landed on the ground and started crawling around, still growling at the top of his lungs. Miss Halls kept trying to grab him and I was pretty much offering him whatever he wanted if he sat back down, but there was absolutely no recognition or control on his face. He wasn't about to listen to anyone. Miss Halls started gathering all the kids together and led them out of the room, asking me to stand guard until his manic moment ended. Aladdin has never been a danger to anyone and we weren't concerned he was going to harm someone, but the rest of the class was getting all riled up just watching him, and we needed to get everyone out. So the rest of the class left, while I just stood there watching Aladdin. I had NO idea how to get him to stop!! He was kinda scaring me and I'm an adult, so I have no idea what the other kids were thinking! I seriously just stood there for 5 minutes watching him, and he just kept going..and going...and going....and going.....gurgling, growling, crawling, climbing desks, and never stopping. The only thing I could think of was music and Playdo, but every time I said his name or asked him a question, he just ignored me and kept on going.

I finally decided to turn on the CD (it has a bunch of kid songs and rhymes on it), I got the Playdo out (the disgusting smelling ball of germs that every kid in the world has touched!), and I just sat there and pretended to have fun. He was still growling, but quieter now, and he just stood at the table and stared at his favorite thing that I was now playing with. I think a Mary Poppin's song was playing on the CD, but I wasn't paying attention to that because I was trying to anticipate what his next move was. And you know what he did? He stopped growling, put his head down, crawled up on my lap, and said, "It's just the monster in me. He likes to come out sometimes." And he picked up the Playdo and played quietly until the bell rang an hour later. OH MY!!! Miss Halls had poked her head in the class to see if it was okay to come in, and when the rest of the class came, he still kept doing his thing while everyone finished the work they had been doing before the interruption. It was incredible!!

After he was dismissed for recess, we talked to the rest of the kids about what had happened, to make sure they weren't scared or confused. And that's when the perfect lesson, from a tiny little 7 year old, was learned. One of the 2nd graders raised her hand and said, "It's okay when he gets crazy. We still like him." Can you believe that? I could never be as kind and loving as they are. The kids kept working, went to lunch and recess, and came back to class without anyone ever mentioning it again. It was like it had never happened!!! And Miss Halls and I are still freaking out about it! Of course we had to write it down and document what had happened in his IEP and in his behavior history, but the other kids honestly never even thought about it again. Nothing has ever happened to that extreme of a manic reaction from Aladdin before, so it wasn't like they were used to it happening- they're just perfect and loving enough to never think anything bad about Aladdin or hold something against him. WOW. Do I not have the best class in the world?? I can pretty much guarantee that Miss Halls and I will talk about it again because it was a huge deal (and scary) thing that affected the whole class, but how much I wish that a person's actions would never change how much I loved them. My kids should write a book!!! They are truly the most Christlike people I know.

"I fear not what man can do;
for perfect love casteth out all fear."
Moroni 8:16