Tonight while going through my son’s third grade school papers, I came across a picture that had been crumpled up and shoved aside. I asked him gently,
“Buddy, why is this nice picture all wrinkled?”
His little eyes lit up as he explained. That day, his teacher asked the kids to draw a picture of themselves. My son drew himself on the baseball field, smiling and happy. Then the teacher gave a lesson that was far more powerful than any worksheet.
He told the class to imagine someone saying unkind things about their drawing. Words like “That looks funny” or “I don’t like what you drew.” Then he asked them to crumple their paper. Afterward, the kids tried to smooth the paper back out, but no matter how hard they tried, the creases stayed.
The teacher explained that our words can work the same way. Hurtful comments can leave marks on someone’s heart, even after we say sorry. Just like the wrinkles on that paper, the damage can remain. As my son finished telling me the story, we talked about kindness, compassion, and how powerful our words really are.
Friends, this touched me deeply. Words matter. What you say to someone may stay with them forever.
If an eight year old can carry that lesson, so can we.
To all the teachers out there planting these seeds of kindness… thank you. You are shaping more than minds. You are shaping hearts. 
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