Once upon a time, there was a wee kangaroo named Kiki. Her family recently moved from Kangaland to Bunnyburg. Kiki was scared. This was her first time so far away from home.
Bunnyburg was new and different. Everybody spoke a strange language. Lots of bunnies and few kangaroos lived in Bunnyburg.
Kiki felt lost, alone and homesick.
At bunny school, Kiki tried to fit in. She wasn’t good at paying attention in class. Everybody spoke so fast and Kiki was shy.
Kiki wondered why all her classmates knew how bunny school worked. How were her classmates so loud and confident? Kiki was often confused at but everybody else seemed to know what was going on.
Kiki was bullied at school because she was new and looked different. She didn’t look like the other bunnies. After all, she was a kangaroo! Her classmates made fun of Kiki when she wore her glasses. They called her names like “nerd” and “dork”.
Kiki felt ashamed of her glasses so she stopped wearing them to class.
Without her glasses, Kiki couldn’t see. It was hard to pay attention in class when everything was blurry.
Kiki’s teacher called on her during class, “Kiki, how do you spell Beautiful?”
“Umm… B-E-A-U-I…” Kiki began.
Her classmates burst into laughter. “BEAUTIFUL, not BEAUITFUL!”
Kiki felt stupid. Without her glasses, the word “BEAUTIFUL” looked very much like “BEAUITFUL”. The letters kept moving! It wasn’t her fault!
“Dummy!” Her classmates hollered. Teacher told them to shush, but the damage was done.
Kiki’s chest tightened. Why was life so unfair? She wasn’t mean to anybody. Her classmates laughed at her because she looked, spoke and acted differently. Kiki wondered if anybody would ever like her. She wondered if she would ever fit in.
“Kiki can’t speak English!” Her classmates repeated.
At school Kiki felt sad and alone. She couldn’t wait for school to end so she could spend time away from the bullies.
Kiki put on a brave face at home. She smiled and tried her best to be happy even when all she wanted to do was sit in a corner and cry.
Why wouldn’t anyone ever invite her to play? Was she really dumb?
Kiki was unhappy but she didn’t want to make her mum sad. Kiki loved Kangamama more than anybody in the world.
Kangamama suffered in Bunnyburg. She barely spoke the language and didn’t have any friends. It was tough for her to be separated from all the things and kangaroos she loved back in Kangaland.
Kiki pretended to be happy for Kangamama’s sake. Kiki thought that if she pretended to be happy in this cold country, then mum might cheer up as well. Kiki always worried whenever mum seemed sad.
“If I put a big smile on my face, then maybe my mum will be happier!” Thought Kiki.
Kiki was too young to realize that happiness could not be given or taken.
Happiness was a choice we make for ourselves. Nobody was responsible for our happiness or sadness. We could choose to be happy or we could choose to be sad. We could try our best to cheer others up, but how could you make someone happy if they didn’t want to be?
Kiki had a lot to learn about life, the universe and everything.
The world was very big and Kiki was so very small. She didn’t know what to do. How could she do better at school and cheer mum up? Maybe she wasn’t big enough to make a difference. She was lonely deep down and she wished someone could understand the pain behind her smile.
Kiki didn’t want to admit her sadness because it might hurt her family.
Family came first, always.
What could Kiki do?
At parent-teacher conference, Kiki’s teacher spoke with Kangamama about Kiki’s performance at school.
“Kiki’s grades… aren’t very good” Teacher admitted.
Kangamama nodded.
Teacher continued. “Kiki is a bright, energetic girl but she doesn’t pay much attention in class. She does very well in arts and in physical education. Unfortunately, she’s not focused in the classroom.”
Kangamama nodded again. “How can we help?” She replied.
“We have to figure a way to get her to pay attention. I think she can do very well if she learned to apply herself.” Said teacher. “Maybe you could get her a tutor?”
Kangamama nodded. “Thank you.”
Today was Kiki’s first day with her new tutor, Pala the Panda. Kiki was very excited to have a new friend to play with.
“Hi Kiki, I’m Pala. I’ll be helping you with English — reading, spelling and writing.”
Kiki bounced around and wasn’t listening. “Let’s play!”
Pala smiled. “Okay. We can play after you’ve done this week’s homework.”
Kiki continued bouncing. “No! Let’s play now!”
Pala waited. Kiki was a young bouncy kangaroo. Sometimes, the only way to stop bouncy kangaroos from bouncing was to let them bounce themselves silly.
After a while, Kiki got tired. “Okay, fine. What are we doing today?”
“Spelling. Here are today’s words…” Pala began.
With Pala’s help, Kiki tried to be better at school. She sat at the front of class and always wore her glasses. When other animals were mean to her, she tried to be nice and not let their hurtful words affect her.
Unfortunately, Kiki still found it hard to focus in class. She was tired all the time and she didn’t sleep well. Kiki worried a lot about not sleeping, so it became even harder for her to sleep!
Kiki was droopy and slow in school because she was always sleepy. Her classmates made fun of her for wearing glasses, for being weird, for being a dummy… all sorts of mean things that little animals say when they don’t know any better.
All the bullying made Kiki feel like giving up.
What was the point of trying her best if her best wasn’t good enough?
Kiki felt like she had let everybody down. She felt like a failure. She let mum down. She let her family down. She let Pala down.
Kiki cried when nobody was watching.
Maybe her classmates were right.
Maybe she was a dummy after all.
“Am I stupid, Pala?” Kiki asked.
Pala looked at her. “Why do you say that? Why, do you think you’re stupid?”
“Well, no matter how hard I try, I can’t focus in class! I don’t have a good memory and other animals always make fun of me!” Kiki exclaimed.
Pala ruffled Kiki’s hair. “It’s okay to feel that way. You’re a very smart little kangaroo. You aren’t stupid.”
Pala took a deep breath and continued, “Kiki, look. You’re sleepy and sometimes you want to be lazy. Sometimes you want to avoid the hard work. No worries, we can improve all of that.” Another deep breath. “Here’s the truth — you’re not stupid. You’ve got a lot of potential in you. You’re just a bit low on self-confidence right now. It’s okay.”
“What do you mean?” Kiki asked.
“You must first believe in yourself before you can achieve what you want to.” Pala said.
“How can I do that Pala? How do I become smart and happy like you?” Kiki wanted Pala’s secret.
Pala laughed. “Sorry Kiki, there’s no secret. I don’t know everything! Just because I’m a big animal doesn’t mean that I know more than you do.”
“Huh?” Kiki was curious. A big animal admitting she didn’t know as much as a little one? Pala was really funny.
Pala continued. “As long as you try your best every day, you will improve. It takes time and lots of patience. But sooner than later, you will get there. I promise.”
Kiki pushed on. “How do I become smart and happy like you?”
Pala thought for a moment. “Nobody is smart or happy all the time. I feel like a dummy sometimes and sometimes I feel sad.”
Kiki’s ears perked up while Pala finished her thought. “I have something for you to practice. If you try this, you will achieve more than you thought possible. You will learn to feel smart and happy no matter what happens in life.”
Kiki’s eyes widened. “Tell me!”
Pala smiled. “Every time you feel scared, try and say “I am scared right now, but…” and here’s the secret sauce. Say, “but… I can be smart. I can be brave.” That’s all you have to do. Later on, you will be able to say “I am smart, I am brave” when you’re ready. Baby steps, there’s no need to rush.”
Kiki thought for a moment. “I don’t know Pala… that sounds kind of weird.”
Pala nodded. “It is very weird. I learned this myself when I was young. Guess what? I thought it was rubbish. How could saying a few words change my life?”
“And?”
Pala laughed. “I was wrong. Words are powerful. Right now you’re hurt because of the mean words your classmates use, right? Because they call you hurtful names, right?”
Kiki agreed.
“In a land far, far away, Ancient Egyptians believed that words and names held immense power. If bad words like “dummy” and “nerd” hurt you so much, why can’t good words like “I can be smart” and “I can be brave” give you the strength to positively change your life?”
Kiki absorbed Pala’s words. What did she have to lose?
“Okay Pala. I’ll try it.”
“Promise?”
“Promise…”
Pala lifted her paw. “Pinky promise.”
Kiki gave Pala her pinky. Pala squinted. “No crossing your fingers, or your toes.”
“Grrrr. How did you know?” Kiki was surprised.
Pala smiled. “I was a young Panda once in a new place and I was bullied just like you. You’re acting the same way I used to act. You have all these feelings you don’t understand. You’re not sure what to believe and you want to please everyone and make everybody happy.”
Kiki nodded. Her pinky interlocked with Pala’s. “Fine, Pala. I’ll try your magic secret sauce thingy.”
“Pinky promise, no crossing?” Pala laughed.
“Promise.”
