Advice for a Happy Marriage
By Debi Dietz Crawford and Friends

When I told my third-grade class that I was getting married, I wondered how they would take the news. They were happy, then quickly went back about their business. I didn't think it would make much of an impact—my only worry was how they would handle a week with a substitute teacher when I took my honeymoon.

I needn't have worried. While I was away, my class spent their time scheming with their substitute, Sue Theile, and my partner teacher, Sue Johnson, to create my most cherished wedding gift: ADVICE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE. Once they heard Ms. Theile's idea, my students raced to impart all of their advice for our marital future. All of their hopes and dreams of marriage, combined with advice that their eight or nine years of careful observance of their parents' marriages spilled out as fast as their pencils could write.

Soon after our honeymoon, my husband, Keith, appeared in my classroom looking anxious—to my surprise, he had been summoned by my students to help me accept our wedding present. We accepted the gift shyly, under the close scrutiny of twenty pairs of third-grade eyes. Later, when we sat down to enjoy the marital morsel they willed us, we were amazed by the insight offered by the children. Their words were honest, sincere, and startlingly wise. It was their turn to teach me something! Today, we treasure our gift, recognizing daily how important it is to continue to see our marriage and our lives through the eyes of a child.

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Debi Dietz Crawford lives with her husband in Colorado and teaches third grade.