Lauren Winner...one of my favorites

Over the next week I am going to put in a few entries about Lauren Winner's books. I have loved everything that she has written and I think that you will too.
Here is an excerpt about forgiveness from Girl Meets God:

My mother taught me, early on, how to write proper thank-you notes, how to set a table, and how to tell people that I'd done something wrong. It was grueling, that third lesson. I came home from kindergarten, smart in my new green rain-slicker, which I adored and wished to wear even in the loveliest weather, and presented her with a quarter. "Where'd you get that?" she asked. "Did you forget to buy your milk at lunch?"
"No," I beamed,"it came from Mrs. Smith's desk." I did not pretend embarrassment, for I had done nothing wrong. I had just found something valuable and brought it home for the family coffer.
I was a teacher's pet, even then, and Mrs. Smith had asked me, and second-pet Christina, to tidy out her desk drawer during recess. I never much liked recess, hating the outdoors and preferring to stay inside and read even then, and tidying a desk wasn't reading, but it was better than kickball. I was thrilled.
We tidied and straightened, rounded up all her stray paper clips, and cornered them into one rectangular compartment on the righthand side of her desk drawer. We banded together all the rubber bands and tucked them in the back. We lined up the pencils. We stacked stickers and capped pens. There was one quarter, just there alone, no other quarters. I scooped it into my pocket.
My mother handed me my green coat, steered me toward the car, and drove the four miles to Ira B. Jones Elementary. We walked to my classroom. "Why Lauren," exclaimed Mrs. Smith, "did you forget something?"
I squirmed. "No," my mother said,"but she has something to tell you."
I pulled the quarter out of my slicker and handed it to her. "I took this from your desk today. I'm sorry," I managed.
Mrs. Smith smiled kindly, and hugged me and thanked me for coming back and giving her the quarter. "It was probably not a very easy thing to do, to come back to school in the middle of your afternoon and give me this quarter. I am very grateful that you did. I forgive you for taking my quarter." The next week, at recess, Mrs. Smith asked me if I would like to clean out her desk drawer.
I think God is a little like Mrs. Smith. I think He forgives us the way Mrs. Smith did: only a fool, God, or a saintly kindergarten teacher would allow a known, convicted, desk-drawer quarter thief to tidy her desk not seven days after the first crime. Mrs. Smith did, though, because she believed repentance had been done. I was truly sorry, she had forgiven me, and that was all there was to it.

I love this illustration of God's forgiveness. I believe that the hardest part is forgiving ourselves. Why is that?
This story brought back a memory of my own from first grade. It was probably only the second week of school. Keep in mind that I am shy and the littlest kid in my class and I have never been to school before...no preschool, no kindergarten...only Sunday school and even there I was so shy that I hardly spoke. I had finished my work early and so had David Hemby. The teacher told us that we could go to the back and draw on the blackboard but it really wasn't black...it was one of those old greenboards. We were having a great time writing all over the board...pictures, doodles, swirlies and just crazy scribbling...remember this was first grade. David Hemby and I were whispering to each other and having a great time...until our teacher, Mrs. Herndon, came back and she realized that what we were coloring with was not white chalk but white crayon. She was angry and made us stay after school to scrub off the board. I was mortified.
Any memories from any of you from kindergarten or first grade?