The Kids Who Said Thank You Too Much

Once upon a time in a magical place called Maui, a beautiful island in the middle of the big blue sea, there lived a little girl and a little boy.

Maui was filled with kind and gentle people who always said, “aloha!” with a big smile and gave big friendly hugs.

One day, the little girl and the little boy were walking to school.

Suddenly, the school bully, a big kid who was always grumpy and mean, stopped them.

“Give me your lunch money!”

The little girl and the little boy smiled and said, “Thank you!” and gave the bully their lunch money.

The school bully was very surprised because usually kids were afraid of him and that made him feel strong.

The school bully was so confused, he gave the little girl and the little boy their lunch money back.

“Thank you!” said the little boy and little girl.

A little while later at school, the little girl and the little boy met some bigger kids who started teasing them.

“You’re stupid!” they said to the little boy, “Hahaha!”

The little boy smiled and said, “Thank you! Yes, I need to study harder! Thank you!”

“You’re dumb!” the other kids said to the little girl, “hahaha!”

The little girl smiled and said, “Thank you! Yes, I need to study harder too! Thank you!”

The other kids were confused because usually the kids they teased would cry, and that would make them feel powerful.

So they stopped teasing the little girl and the little boy, and walked away.

At recess, the little girl and little boy were playing in the sandbox, making a big castle in the sand.

Suddenly, the school bully and the bigger kids ran over their castle, until it was just little piles of sand!

The school bully and the bigger kids were sure that the little boy and the little girl would cry this time!

The little girl and little boy smiled and said, “Thank you! Now, we can make an even better castle! Thank you!”

The school bully and the bigger kids were confused — usually little kids would be sad and start to cry.

So there they were, shaking their heads.

“What’s wrong with those kids? They say, ‘thank you!’ too much! It’s no fun to bully or tease them!”

Just then, Amida Buddha appeared before them.

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “What happened, children? Why are you are looking so confused?”

The school bully said, “Amida, I was mean to the little girl and little boy. I took their lunch money and they said, ‘thank you!’ I was so confused because usually kids are scared of me, so I gave them their money back. And they said, ‘thank you!’ again!”

The bigger kids said, “We teased the little kids and called them names! The little girl and little boy just smiled and said, ‘thank you!’ and agreed with us! Usually little kids cry when we tease them, but they just said, ‘thank you!’”

The school bully and the bigger kids said, “Then we ran over their sand castle until it was just little piles of sand! We thought for sure they’d cry but the little girl and little boy, just said, ‘thank you!’ because we gave them a chance to build an even better sand castle!”

The school bully and the bigger kids said, “The little girl and little boy say, ‘thank you!’ so much that it is no fun to bully them or tease them or smash their sand castle!”

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “What did you learn from the little girl and little boy?”

The school bully thought very carefully and said, “I know! Sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to…and I only bully kids because it makes me feel strong, but in my heart of hearts, I’m lonely because I’m so much bigger than the other kids they are afraid of me. I just want to be friends.”

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “That’s very wise! Sometimes we do things without thinking that end up hurting us more than other people!”

The bigger kids thought very carefully and said, “We know! We only tease little kids because we are secretly afraid someone will tease us! We are afraid someone will call us names or make fun of us! That’s so silly! We just want to be friends!”

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “That’s very wise! Sometimes we try to hurt other people’s feelings because we are afraid they might hurt ours!”

The little girl and little boy smiled at Amida and said, “Thank you, Amida! You taught us that life can be difficult sometimes, but that is an opportunity to be kind and gentle to every living thing. You taught us that nothing lasts forever but that means we can always start over! We should be thankful for everything that happens in life!”

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “You children are so wise! Now, what will you all do today!”

The school bully, the bigger kids, the little girl and the little boy, all smiled and said together, “We are going to say, ‘thank you!’ too much, hahaha! And share what we have, speak pure and beautiful words, and play together in harmony! Namo Amida Butsu! Thank you, Amida!”

Amida Buddha smiled and said, “Mahalo, children, for being such wise girls and boys! Anytime you want to see me, just say Namo Amida Butsu! I’m always ready to come to help you!”

All the children smiled, waved to Amida, and said, “Mahalo, Amida! Thank you for always helping us! Namo Amida Butsu!”

And the children all lived happily ever after, playing together in harmony on a white sandy beach in a magical place called Maui, a beautiful island in the middle of the big blue sea.

THE END