Lizzie and her Spaghetti Hotdog

Learning about acceptance and self-confidence, i.e. it's ok to be different, you don't always have to conform to peer pressure

Lizzie is a special little girl. Unlike other kids who love hotdogs with sausages in the middle, Lizzie likes her hotdog with spaghetti in the middle :-)

One Monday, Lizzie's school was serving hotdog. All the kids queued up to get their hotdogs from the school chef. When it came to Lizzie's turn, she said "I don't like sausages. Can I have spaghetti in my hotdog instead?"

All the kids looked at Lizzie and giggled. "Spaghetti in hotdogs, now that's silly!"

Lizzie didn't get upset. She just smiled and said to the kids "it's nice if you give it a try" but nobody did. They just continued giggling while pointing at Lizzie's spaghetti hotdog.

On Tuesday, Lizzie's school served burgers with beef patties in the middle. All the kids queued up to get their burgers from the school chef. When it came to Lizzie's turn, she said "I don't like beef patties. Can I have spaghetti in my burger instead?"

Again all the kids started giggling, "spaghetti burger, now that's silly!"

Again Lizzie smile and politely invited the kids to try it. One brave boy stood up and said "I'll try and let you know how yucky it is". He took a bite and grinned... "Mmmmmm... Lizzie's right. It's yummy!"

The one by one the kids took turns to try. "Yes Lizzie's right. Hooray for spaghetti burger!"

On Wednesday and the rest of the week, the kids had spaghetti everything. And they learnt that it's ok to be different, even you should never be ashamed of being different!

After the story I asked H if it's ok to have spaghetti hotdog. He giggled and said "no, that's silly". I guess he's too young to really understand the moral behind the story, but hopefully he knows how to stand up for himself and not get upset if he gets teased or laughed at for doing things differently :-)