Lessons Learned from Snack Time

This Sunday at church we had a couple of visitors in my class. It was Easter, so that's bound to happen, people visiting from out of town and such.

Well snack time came around and the children scarfed down their graham crackers like they had never seen food before (this is normal occurrence).

One of the visiting little girls asked for another. I'm about 3/4ths of the way through my snack budget for the year and it's only April. So I told her not today, they would get another one next week. The conversation quickly turned sour and went something like this:

Girl: I want another one!
Me: you already ate yours, no more for today.
Girl: but I want one!
Me: sorry, you can have another one next week
Girl: give me another one, now!
Me: Is that how you get things at home, because that is not how we do it here...
Girl: give me another one, please!
Me: No more, sorry! (Ok she did say please, but after her little rant I was not only going to not give her another but make her cough up the one she already ate!)

She was a fairly pleasant girl besides this, but it got me thinking. Man some kids really are just brats! There are kids that you can tell are good, they just have bad moments. Then there are those that are just having a never ending bad moment.

How do you prevent that from happening? I'm sure parents don't raise their kids hoping they will turn out to be bratty. They just do. Either by their own actions or their kid’s genetic make up they turn out to be monsters.

Some of the kid's I've seen, man! They are just spawns. And their parents bless their hearts try and try, but the kids still turn out that way.

Honestly this is one of my biggest fears. That I will have that kid that no teacher wants in their class, or that no parents want to invite to their child's b-day party.

Every time I see something on the news about a child molester or a serial killer I first think about the victims. But then I think about the Mother of that molester or murderer and how she must feel.

To have raised someone who is capable of such terrible things. I wonder if the Mother blames herself for her child's actions, even if she did the best job she could teaching it right from wrong.

I am pretty confident that I won't raise a serial killer. Or child molester either. But I see some kids and they are so polite, nice and well behaved most of the time. I can't help but wonder, how do I make sure I get one of those?