Once there was a little boy named Ralph. He was quite tall for a 4 year old, and he had bright blue eyes that saw every little thing nearby and to the farthest horizon. One day his teacher was working in the Kindergarten yard, when suddenly she heard her name called from far, far away, “Hi, Mrs. Wood!” She looked and looked in all directions until she spotted him way across the street by the barn with his mother. How could he have even seen her from such a distance? Such things happened many times.
It was Bread Day and Mrs. Wood came into the Kindergarten classroom with a nice big roll of butter. Snack time was approaching and the delicious smells of baking bread were filling the air. Suddenly she saw out of the corner of her eye a streaking movement from across the room, and Ralph was at her side in a flash, grabbed the butter from her hands and began to rip open the package. In a state of shock Mrs. Wood instinctively grabbed it back! And of course, since she was so surprised, she also said something to the child that was not very enlightened. Later that night, Mrs. Wood felt bad, since she had merely imitated the very behavior she wanted to help him change. Since she was bigger and stronger, it worked quite well for saving the butter. But it didn’t help Ralph. Mrs. Wood loved little Ralph; he was affectionate, imaginative, and very intelligent, but he had astonishingly little impulse control. There was no space between his impulse and his deed! Hm-m-m. How shall we insert a little space in there as an opportunity for him to begin bringing these impulses under his own control? Mrs. Wood had an idea! Since it is now well known that young children need butter (or other fats) for the myelination of the nerves as the brain grows and develops, and since Ralph was growing so fast, this would explain his craving. So, the next day when it was time to bring in the butter, Mrs. Wood called Ralph to her side, showed him the beautiful butter roll and said, “Ralph, every time you would like some butter, just come to me and say, ‘Please, Mrs. Wood, may I have some butter?’ And I will give you a big spoonful.” And, from that day on, Ralph was very happy to get his spoon full of butter to lick like a lollipop. And Mrs. Wood was very happy to see Ralph calmly managing his butter cravings!
