CHALK up this ONE

Have you ever seen those amazing 3D chalk drawings on footpaths? They look so realistic and last for such a short time. 
The other day I watched a dad draw small, stylised chalk pictures (in a row) for his daughter. She was tiny (I guess around two years old) and her head and smile followed his drawing hand. I was intrigued by his ability to draw freehand perfect circles and capture the essence of a boat, car, truck, house and sun. There was nothing 3D about these pictures and yet they carried their own beauty. Their beauty was in the moments that were being created.
Once finished she used the pictures like a hopscotch game. She hopped and she counted. Backwards and forwards, time and time again. Her dad also called out the objects and she repeated them out loud. So much fun. Great teaching! I then noticed her looking up and it was her turn to point and call out, “Boat!” Sure enough, about 50 metres away was a boat on a trailer. Clever girl. Clever dad. Connections were being made with numbers, words and objects around her, but perhaps more importantly connections and bonds were being made between them, both now and in the future.

Comments

  1. Chantal BehrApril 16, 2026 at 8:42 AM

    What a beautiful picture of the father’s love. I can’t help but think of abba Father, who dotes on us just like that father did with his daughter- so our father wants to share special moments like that with us. Child like faith - time spent with the father and just enjoying our time with him leads us to make connections just like the little girl did - boat - boat. And just like that our lives change. We understand now! Beautiful picture thank you for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SHARING KINDNESS with the WORLD

Since starting my kindness blog in March 2023 and sending it firstly to family and friends in New Zealand, today, readers in 75 countries have read my blog. I continue to write what I think people need, not what they necessarily want.  Starting with my own country, the list begins…New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Serbia, Albania, Uzbekistan, Kryrgyzstan, Czechia, Bosnia/Hertzegovina, Hungary, Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Armenia, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, USA, Jamaica, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Equador, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa....
Read more

GRANDMAS and GRANDKIDS

Grandmas are everywhere. I’m married to one. Their many kindnesses to their grandchildren are honoured in this blog post.  Let me start with my grandma in Auckland. Grandma Webb would host her six grandchildren every Friday night for fish and chips, followed by calcium cookies for dessert. This can’t have been easy for her as we weren’t always on our best behaviour! My mum would let our daughters do baking, preparing cookies for the oven on her kitchen floor (covered with newspapers). They would create a tray each and according to mum were always perfect. With mums help they also created their own oil paintings.  My wife Val (Marzie or Jamma to her eight grandchildren) has spent countless hours over the years with them. Our oldest grandchild Jackson was picked up after school and did his homework with her. They have enjoyed many cafe breakfasts together and Jackson has never turned the offer of a breakfast or brunch down. Now, Jackson’s sport is MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Val me...
Read more

BOOTS and ALL

Kids shying away from playing sports because of financial difficulty is a past and present issue. I remember our Auckland Eastern Suburbs rugby coach, Frank Allen (younger brother of Fred Allen, a past All Black coach) generously giving a pair of boots to one of our team mates so he could play. His kindness must have impacted me as this was over 60 years ago. Frank saw a need and did something about it.  When I was teaching at Hamilton Boys’ High School, senior students would organise second hand boot sales every year for students whose families could not afford new boots to play either rugby, football or hockey. The boots were still in good condition from the previous season and were sold for a few dollars. A wonderful school based initiative that gave an opportunity for all students to play a sport of their choosing.  I am aware of two men preparing to run 100kms by doing laps of Piha and Papamoa beach. Harry (former teacher) and Albie (Navy) have organised their runs to rai...
Read more