Daughter
&
d
a
D
Dcuns
by Patrick and J.L. Hempfing
“The 5th
Graders
are
Coming!”
H
istory. We can learn a lot
from it. An inventor’s
idea that proved success-
ful. A leader’s decision that changed the
world. Other stories where the nice guy,
or gal, finished first. Conversely, history
includes wars, the Great Depression,
and things we’d just as soon not have to
explain to our children.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve shel-
tered Jessie from select topics. Howev-
er, as she reminds me, all the time, she is
ten. My wife and I allow her to read the
newspaper and can’t clip out all the sto-
ries we wish her young eyes didn’t have
to see. It’s better, though, to get an ex-
planation of an upsetting current event
from Mom or Dad than from a fourth-
grade classmate. Still, my inclination is
to wrap my arms around her, to fight her
battles, and yes, to shelter her.
Battles and challenges closer to
home can pop up any time. One day on
the drive home from school, Jessie said
the 4th graders (her class) were having
trouble with some 5th grade boys inter-
rupting their game at recess. My first
thought was, I’ll go to school tomor-
row and you won’t need to worry about
those fifth-grade bullies. Okay, I didn’t
really think that, but my initial reaction
18 WNY Family October 2018
focused on “Dad to the rescue.”
I suggested that maybe she could
gain the assistance of a fifth-grade girl,
but finished the conversation with, “I’m
sure you’ll work it out.” Jessie knows
that tattling is not looked upon favor-
ably, by her parents, teachers, or fellow
classmates, so she felt she was in a bit of
a tight spot. At this point, I’ll let Jessie
share her story.
Jessie, Age 10
Hi, all. We’ve been having a little
bit of a fight with some of the 5th graders
at school this year. We get outside before
them. When they get recess, they come
tearing out to the four-square. Now, I
don’t have anything against 5th grad-
ers, but I don’t believe that they should
ruin our game. I don’t mind if they join
us, but they change the rules. One 5th
grader said, “You can spike the ball to
the other 5th graders, but not to these
little weaklings.”
Day after day, the 5th graders took
over until finally, one of my best friends
and I made a plan for a protest. In So-
cial Studies, we are learning about when
American colonists were mad at the
British for having to pay unfair taxes.
That’s how all my friends and I feel. The
5th graders are forcing us to play by un-
fair rules or quit. So the words that the
colonists said were, “No taxation with-
out representation.” We decided to come
up with a protest to rhyme with that.
Finally, after some hard thinking,
my friend said, “I’ve got it.” Though it
was my friend’s idea, she didn’t want to
join in the protest. So I, by myself, stood
in the middle of the four-square game
shouting,“No spiketation withou