My 11-year-old twins graduated from elementary school a few days ago, and their principal sent each student home with a bag of goodies. The simple items within represented a strong and inspirational message, and I thought we writers could use a 5th grader-style boost. Your virtual goodie bag includes the following:- The cotton ball is to remind you to use soft words with each other.
- The chocolate Kiss is to comfort you when you are feeling sad.
- The sticker is to remind you that you should stick together and help each other.
- The penny is to remind you that you are valuable and very special.
- The rubber band will remind you to stretch the possibilities and try new things.
- The star is to remind you to shine and always do your best.
- The tissue is to remind you to help dry someone's tears.
- The toothpick is to remind you to pick out quality friends along the way.
- The eraser is to remind you that we all make mistakes--it's ok to start over.
I don't know who created this idea, or who wrote the sweet words, but I thought it was adorable.
Now let's get out there and conquer the middle school, I mean publishing, world!
I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteThat was such an inspiring goodie bag that the kids were given. It can apply to so many things in life...thanks for sharing it.
I love it...
ReplyDeleteI love it! I think we could all benefit from a little 5th grade wisdom more often. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool the principal and the staff took the time to put that together. Hope they remember those words.
ReplyDeleteAw, that's cute inspiration! When I graduated from eighth grade, the sixth graders made little packages for us like this, but the ones you kids got were much cuter! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's very cute, thanks for sharing. As of now, my son will be in elementary through 6th grader (he just finished 4th), but if budget cuts cause us to close one school, he'll get bumped up early (which he'd like).
ReplyDeleteerica
Wow! What a fabulous idea. I especially love the eraser...
ReplyDeleteThose are great words/symbols! Love it. ;o) Have a super fun and sunny weekend!
ReplyDeleteVery cool post, Julie. I read it to my 5th grade teaching wife and she loves it and wants to begin using that! Hope the weekend is treating you well.
ReplyDelete-Jimmy
Lovely Julie, have a super weekend!
ReplyDeleteOkay, that's plain awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteAngela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Excellent words to live by! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Terrific messages! Congrats to your boys :)
ReplyDeleteIt brought tears to my eyes just reading it. Those are wonderful words! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys. I thought it was so cute! And hey, the wisdom is universal :D
ReplyDeleteYou always have the perfect way of framing things. Thank you. Yay, for the graduates.
ReplyDeleteHey Julie, I do a similar one for my class each year. This years went like this -
ReplyDelete~ a pencil to remind you to SMILE because Jesus loves you (and you don’t even have to worry about it being a #2 pencil because TESTING IS DONE!!!!!) (It was a pencil that said Smile, Jesus loves you)
~ some bubbles because bubbles are fun no matter how old you are!
~ a hand clapper so you can give yourself a round of applause for a job well done this year;
~ an eraser to remind you never to be afraid of making a mistake. Mistakes can be erased so you should always be willing to try something new;
~ a ball to remind you that you can always bounce back, no matter what life throws at you;
~ Smarties because … well because you are. ☺
and finally …
~ a horn because now that you’re on vacation you can make as much noise as you want!!!!!!!!!
Mary, that is ADORABLE! I love the one about the ball. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat is cute.
ReplyDeleteSimply loved this, will have to share them with my new fifth grader in the coming year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool principal to give those goodie bags to each graduating 5th grader. I like the rubberbands!
ReplyDeleteAnd Mary's comment has good stuff in it, too. I bet the kids loved getting the Smarties! And the horn could also be for tooting your own horn. Okay, so maybe we don't want to teach the kids to do that too often. Haha!
Oh, how sweet! I hope your kids do remember those things. (And us writers)
ReplyDeleteLove this! I'm thinking a teacher with a big heart for students wrote these. Thanks for the lovely reminders:)
ReplyDeleteJust loved this. Its cute and meaningful. :)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! :-D
ReplyDeletekat magendie
This is lovely, Julie. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI thought of one more that would really work for me -- a ball of twine to help us find our way back when lost in a story!
A ball of twine is brilliant!!!!! Thanks, Susan :D
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, thank you!
ReplyDeleteVery sweet. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThis could accompany high school diplomas as well. It's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJust the fact that we write for kids shows that we know to take them seriously. What a great list! Especially those items that remind us that it's not a solitary effort, and that we have to be there for others as much as we need them to be there for us.
ReplyDeleteI love it! How appropriate!
ReplyDeleteJane
That is a wonderful goodie bag. I love the idea of the cotton ball reminding you to be soft with words.
ReplyDeleteAhh, how wonderful to transport back to fifth grade and hear those messages we need to remember all our lives. Thank you. And congrats to your twins. Eleven is such a great age!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us. Congrats to your twins and I wish them luck in middle school!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such an inspiring goody bag, Julie!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Julie. My son had received a similiar bag one year in school. Can't remember what all was in it. CONGRATS to your twins for graduating from elementary school. My son graduated from high school this year.
ReplyDeleteYou have little men now. How cute! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the eraser one. Yes, it is OK to start over if needed.
This is so cute! Congrats to your twins. :)
ReplyDelete