Story I overheard in the lunchroom:
Four-year-old Cara approaches Jill on the playground and says, “I have to go home right now.”
Jill asks, “What’s wrong?”
Cara says, “I have strep throat, it really hurts, I need to go lie down.”
Jill inquires a little bit about it, knowing that Cara had strep a few weeks ago but has had a full recovery. Cara finally admits, “Ok, it’s my feelings that really hurt…”
Jill says, “Your feelings? Someone really hurt your feelings?”
Cara agrees, “Yeah…it hurts like strep throat. I have strep throat of hurt feelings.”
Jill informs Cara that even though she understands how bad that must hurt, she has to go back out on the play ground. Cara amicably agrees after realizing that strep throat and having feelings hurt as bad as strep are two very different things to a teacher.