All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten

A couple of years ago my dad handed off a bag full of books to me from Grandma Betty. This is a constant source of annoyance to most members of my family, as few of us have time to read and indulge in literature in the ways that Grandma would have us do. She WAS, after all, the librarian for Beiger Elementary School and the curator for the Hannah Lindahl Children's Museum. She's had a lot of exposure to books.

I like to read. I find a lot of solace in reading, and I read many different kinds of books. I read fiction the most I would say because as a high stress person, fiction gives me an escape from the real world. But I also greatly enjoy auto-biographies (Alex and I are currently diving into the life of Phil Vischer, the genius behind VeggieTales) and I love to read books that teach me things I need to know. You may remember the descriptions of my vast library of gardening books, cookbooks, fashion and fabric guides and business books.

When Grandma hands off a stack of books, they usually come to me, because she knows I will read them.....eventually. I finally looked into the bookshelf and pulled out this dusty old hardback with it's cellophane library jacket on it and all the stamps from the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Library crossed out with a black Sharpie. I thought to myself Why haven't I read this yet? and opened up the first page.

I have laughed out loud at certain parts of this book, and some of the more memorable writings in it will make their way to the postings of my blog. I really am enjoying this author and I think it's because he writes and verbalizes like I do! The tone of his writing is very similar to my own! No wonder I love it!

I wanted to share the list of very important things about life that inspired the title of the book All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten because I agree with them 100%. Wouldn't life be beautiful if we could step outside of our adult reasoning and justification and thought process and go back to kindergarten?


"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share Everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. And mean it!
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life- learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Whe you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really know how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the cup - they all die. And so do we.
And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the very first word you learner - the most important word of all!
LOOK!

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living." -Robert Fulghum