First-graders ponder their love of mothers
Every year, Rene Ruffner asks her first-grade class a simple question: Why do you love your mom?
The McQuistion Elementary School teacher started asking about moms 13 or 14 years ago, she said. The answers are often funny, sometimes silly and always sweet.
The students brainstorm as a class, then write their answers. The writings are eventually packaged into scrapbook projects to make Mother's Day gifts.
The scene of these brainstorms is amusingly wholesome. Ruffner steers the class away from simple answers like “She buys me stuff” to ferret out little tokens of gold, such as “My mom snuggles me when I am scared.”
She moves from desk to desk, using the assignment as a grammar and critical thinking exercise, as well as an exercise in crafting loving gifts.
Ruffner's students submitted their finished writings to the Butler Eagle for publication, so as to publicly celebrate their mothers.
Those writings are the source of the many quotes published alongside this story. They also graciously allowed a reporter into their writing process to pick their brains as they pondered what to write about their parents.
Maddalyn McConahy, 6, recalled going on walks with her mom on warm summer days. Anytime she's sad or scared, Maddalyn said, her mom's there with a kiss.
“Sometimes I really want to help her do the dishes,” Maddalyn said. “But she does it.”
Manual labor was an oddly common theme in Ruffner's class this year. Kaleb Kormick, 7, said his mom seems to really enjoy “fixing our car.”
He too had sweetness to share: “Whenever I have a bad dream and tell her, she lets me sleep with her.”
Not everyone in the class had a mother to honor, but instead wrote for the other special guardians in their lives.
Liam McClelland, 7, said his mee-maw is “wonderful.”
“She's, like, very nice,” Liam said.
They play video games together, he said, at least when his mee-maw can stand to separate herself from what Liam named as her hobby.
“She loves to clean,” he said.
Kaitlynn Brosius also games with her mother. Her mom, she said, “gives me kisses when people are bullying me.” They watch television together, too.
“Lifetime or Hallmark,” Kaitlynn said.
Michelle Ketchum, 7, summed up her love for her mother simply.
“She snuggles with me sometimes,” Michelle said. “I like to be with my mom.”
Ruffner receives thank- you cards from moms every year, so she knows the writings don't go unappreciated. She thinks this year's class has nailed it again.
“I wanted them to make awesome Mother's Day gifts,” Ruffner said. “I think they'll love them.”
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