It's not you, It's me

I was preparing my materials while the kids were playing, when I overheard one of my students say "It's not you! It's me!" I stopped, glanced over my shoulder to see who made that remark.

We often hear this in a breakup scene of two lovers, rarely in a classroom with 4 year olds. It's a rather lame excuse for ending a relationship; trying to put all the blame on yourself to make it sound like the weight of the emotional burden should be on your shoulders, when really, it's an easy loophole to get out of the relationship.

However that is not the context my students were in. They were playing with some toys when they accidentally hit a friend. The kid was not involved in the incident, immediately said "i'm sorry!!" That's when the perpetrator (haha!) said "It's not you! It's me!"

She told the truth. Usually, some would pretend they didn't have anything to do with the accident for fear of getting scolded at, but I'm proud of her for telling the truth. Really, it was me. 


Maybe in relationships, this line doesn't work so well anymore, but my kids tell me something else.

Tell the truth.

Even if it hurts.