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Shira Starts the Day Over

Ages 6-9 | Story and 9 activities

Shira's day begins with a spilled glass of orange juice.

It splashes across the table, onto the floor, and over her new white socks. "Oh no!" she cries. Her baby brother Moshe laughs and bangs his spoon.

"It's just juice," says Mommy, mopping the floor. "Go change your socks."

But Shira's lip wobbles. She stomps up the stairs. She can't find a matching pair, so she wears two different socks. One is pink. One is purple.

On the way to the bus, her backpack zipper snags on her jacket. By the time she frees it, the bus is already pulling away.

"Shira, get in the car, I'll drive you," calls Mommy.

In the car, Shira slumps. "This is the worst day ever," she says. "The juice, the socks, the zipper. Everything is going wrong."

"That was a lot of small things," says Mommy gently. "They add up, don't they?"

Shira nods. A tear slides down her cheek.

They pull up outside the school. The bell has already rung. Shira walks into class five minutes late, with her face down. Her teacher, Morah Aviva, is reading a story, and all the heads turn. Shira's cheeks burn. She slides into her seat.

During math, she drops her pencil. In reading, she loses her place. At recess, she kicks a ball and it hits the fence. Each thing is tiny, but each one makes her feel more grumpy.

Her friend Rina comes over. "Are you okay? You seem upset."

"My day is ruined," says Shira. "It was bad from the very start. Nothing can fix it."

Rina tilts her head. "Is the whole day ruined? Or just the morning?"

Shira opens her mouth, then closes it. "The morning was terrible."

"What about right now?" asks Rina.

Shira looks around. She is standing in the sunshine. The ball is lying on the grass. Rina is beside her. Nothing is actually going wrong at this very second.

"Right now is... okay," she admits.

"My Bubby says, you can always begin again," says Rina. "Like when you get up from a fall, and you just brush yourself off. She says every moment is a fresh start."

Shira thinks about it. A day isn't one big piece, she realizes. It's made of lots of little moments. She can't change the morning. But she can change what comes next.

She takes a deep breath in, and a long breath out. She wiggles her shoulders to shake off the grumpy feeling. Then she looks down at her mismatched socks and smiles.

"Maybe I can start my day over," she says. "Right now."

"How?" asks Rina.

"I'll pretend the bell just rang for the first time. And I'll say something kind to someone."

She turns to Rina. "Thank you for checking on me. That was really nice."

Rina beams. "You're welcome."

The rest of the day feels very different. In math, Shira finishes her sheet. At lunch, she shares her grapes. In art, she draws a picture of her two odd socks, one pink and one purple, with a tiny face on each.

When she gets home, Mommy asks, "How was your day?"

"It started out terrible," says Shira. "But then I started over. And the second half was good."

"You can do that?" says Mommy.

"Yes," says Shira. "Rina taught me. You just notice what is happening right now, and you choose what to do next."

At bedtime she puts her two odd socks on the shelf, side by side, where she can see them.