 What's your favorite Dr. Suess read? Photo by: Amazon.com Today, March 2, 2011 is National Dr. Seuss Day. It's pretty incredible, the staying power of Dr. Seuss' work. The Cat in the Hat was released in 1954 and is still a kid favorite today - as are so many of his books. Amazing.
Today I compiled my personal Top 5 list of Dr. Seuss must-reads and discovered there are quite a few I've never had the privilege to read. You better believe our next trip to the library will be spent perusing the Dr. Seuss selection.
Here's a little taste of my list:
- I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! - The Cat in the Hat makes a return starring appearance in this special Seuss book. A constant must-read as a child, it was also one of my first solo reads.
- Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! - Not discovered until after I became a mother, it quickly became a favorite to read to my daughter. I loved everything this book had to offer. Colors for her to recognize, the common Seuss-silliness in the rhyming flow of the words, to the inherent idea of the book in “The thinks you can think up if only you try!” Reminding kiddos the beauty of their imaginations...Read more
As I was pondering over which books to include in my list, I found myself thinking about the things that make these books great. Why have they remained an important part of children's literature for decades? As I paged through my favorites, I thought back to the first grade when I struggled with certain aspects of reading. It gave me serious anxiety. Even though I loved the idea of reading and words even then. I wondered if perhaps the silly, made-up words don't give beginning readers a sense of confidence. I mean they're so very often words completely drawn from the imagination of Dr. Seuss, and they end up creating the silliest of rhymes...It's almost like a child can't go wrong when reading his books.
In the end, I don't really know. What do you think? What is it about Dr. Seuss books that has made them so incredibly timeless?
To get my list in its entirety, please head on over to my Examiner.com column where it was initially published. (Also don't forget to tell us what Dr. Seuss books make up your top reads).
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Thank you for all of your fantastical books of imagination and rhyming.
 I mean, seriously, what's not to totally love about this gap-filled smile? Yesterday, February 28, was National Tooth Fairy Day. One might think that a grown person wouldn't be practically giddy to discover that there was a day set aside for this character of American folklore. (Dating back to the early 1900s - in case you were wondering).
Ever since I was a kid who was losing her own baby teeth, I've loved all there is to love about first being a toothless wonder myself, and then getting to experience that excitement with the kids in my life. Related or not. I just love it when I see a kiddo with a fresh gap in their teeth. I adore hearing the tale of how they lost those sweet, little teeth. In fact, it became an issue in my family - especially when a first tooth is lost, then I want to know - that night. I don't care how late it is. My sister's youngest son lost his first tooth and they didn't call until the next day! I know. I couldn't believe it either.
After that tragic incident where I was delayed in sharing my excitement, a rule clearly had to be instated. Regardless of the time of loss - a phone call was a must. Again, I couldn't be more excited to hear the tale of how they came to lose that wiggly little wonder.
I know what you're thinking - "this chick is crazy. Really, you really get this excited about those missing teeth?" You bet. Call it the kid in me that refuses to let me officially grow up (P.S. I'm okay with that), call it plain looniness, but I love being a crazy enthusiastic person for these little loves.
Given all of that excitement, of course I wrote a whole series of articles celebrating this day. I kicked it off with Fun Friday: Even the Tooth Fairy gets hit by inflation. For this installment, I polled my friends, family, and Facebook peeps to get a feel for how the times have changed - even for the Tooth Fairy.
Next we went to suggestions for how you might want to celebrate National Tooth Fairy Day with, Celebrate National Tooth Fairy Day on February 28, 2011. Within this little bit, you'll find books and movie suggestions that are all about the Tooth Fairy. Additionally, you'll get a little glimpse at my enthusiasm for all things Tooth Fairy in the opening paragraph.
Finally, I capped off my coverage of National Tooth Fairy Day with a look at the oh so important Tooth Fairy Pillows. The holder of those sacred little lost teeth. In the midst of this piece, you'll find how-to's from my mom and others. I mean really, who better to turn to than your own mama? With that I give you, Make a Tooth Fairy pillow for your toothless wonder.
So, tell me your or your kiddo's stories; you know I want to hear 'em.
After a recent trip to our local library, it dawned on me that there are just a ton of great finds to be discovered within those walls - and the walls of all libraries. This light bulb moment has created a new semi-series for me in Examiner land. Should Abby and I make wonderful discoveries on our outings, they will now be shared within my column with the primary heading of Library discovery: ... Our first such discovery was Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as told and illustrated by Iza Trapani. This book turned out to be a lovely little gem, which found its way off the library shelf and into my hands simply because Abby is majorly addicted to Twinkle, Twinkle right now. If you want to learn more about the book you can, of course, head on over to the actual article. If you happen to stumble across such wonderful finds and you'd like them included; please feel free to toss me a line on Facebook, here, or you can always shoot me an e-mail. I'll track down the book myself, give it a read, and provide a review of sorts. Hope to be hearing from you!
Recently I've done a series of articles that focused on potty training. It began from my collecting various tips and tricks from moms I know and wanting to provide real advice from real moms. It seemed to me that there are a ton of books available on the market about potty training dos and don'ts, but what a mom (at least this mom) really wants is for someone more tangible to say, "Hey, I've been there and done that, and here's what worked for my kiddo, and here's what didn't." Not some obscure expert writing a book. From this idea came two Fun Friday pieces; one of which wasn't meant to have anything resembling a potty training or otherwise focus, but ended up touching on it within the piece. The other, came from the desire to share the sometimes humorous and honest truth about potty training. Next up, was a story I literally stumbled upon, but was interested on getting my reader's take on the story. Basically, a three-year-old girl found herself removed from preschool because of frequent bathroom related accidents. I was hoping to (and did within the comments) start a discussion about children who are ready in every other way for preschool, but maybe haven't left the minors and gone pro in their potty training efforts. I hope you'll join in on the discussion. I'll be rounding out all of our recent potty training information with an interview with a friend (and mother of five) who found great success in the pages of one of those potty training books I wasn't comfortable with. We'll basically be taking a look at the book from her perspective and how she put the advice into action. If you haven't already, but sure to subscribe to my Examiner.com column so you don't miss out on this interesting information. You can subscribe at the top or bottom of any of my articles. Hopefully this piece will be coming our way soon.
 Original Pioneer School building, originally built in 1905. This Saturday, February 12, 2011, the Billings Barnes & Noble is hosting a book fair for Pioneer Elementary School.
This little school is over 100 years old and currently has 55 students learning within it's buildings. The original school building still stands and is used.
There are several activities planned for the Book Fair as well as opportunities for the community to get involved in raising funds for this small school's library.
Even if you don't live in the Billings area, if you plan to do any shopping on BarnesandNobel.com this weekend, why not contribute a percentage of your sale to Pioneer Elementary School?
For details on how to do that and more information on this event, head on over to:
 Matching jammies for their first slumber party. This past weekend Abby reached a crucial milestone in becoming a kid. Gone is the toddler, she is now fully embarking upon honest to goodness “kid-dom.” She had her first slumber party with her cousin counterpart, who is exactly one year older than her.
Earlier in the week Abby declared her desire to have a sleepover, when I inquired as to who we would be inviting for such an event, there was no hesitation when she said we needed to call ‘Kayla. A phone call was made to my sister and after she had a conversation with her husband, it was agreed, we would get Makayla on Friday night.
Following you’ll get an up close and personal view of what it looks like to have a 4 and 5-year-old slumber party.
4:30 p.m. – Call my sister to see if we can pick up Makayla and take her to the store with us.
4:45 p.m. – With a giddy girl in tow, we dash up to the door and are greeted with equally matched giddiness. With her little roll-along suitcase in tow, followed by a flurry of kisses and “have funs” we are out the door and ready to kickoff our night.
4:50 p.m. – Upon getting the girls safely buckled in, as we head out of the driveway their giddiness cannot be contained as they giggle uncontrollably and play an adapted game of hide and seek…Buckled. In the car. Makayla: “Count to two Abby and I’ll hide.” Abby: “Okay! One, two, three, four…” Makayla: “No! Just to two Abby!” As she ducks her head to the side of the car seat.
5:45 p.m. – Following a successful outing to the store we arrived home and the girls volunteer to help make the pancakes. This required no small amount of negotiating skills on my part, as we determined who got to pour what in, followed by how long they got to stir before switching. Overall, phenomenal helpers.
As I finished up the pancakes and got the eggs and sausage going, the girls played some UNO Moo and Whack-a-Mole. 6:15 p.m. – We settle in with our breakfast for dinner and both the girls eat ridiculously well. Despite warnings from both her parents and Makayla herself that she doesn’t eat eggs, she had two helpings – we’ll simply call it the magic of Aunt Bec.
7:00 p.m. – The girls and I play a couple of rounds of UNO Moo before they decide they do in fact still have room in their tummies and vote that it’s most definitely time to get the popcorn popping.
7:30 p.m. – With only a small level of debate the girls pick their movie of the night and we end up with the fantastic third installment of Toy Story. Picking out the movie went too smoothly so we were due for at least a minor argument, which was the result of who got to sit on which chair and where.
Major drama was averted by piling pillows up for the girls to lay on complete with blankie snuggling. We got the popcorn popped and they settled in for loads of giggling fun.
9:15 p.m. – “Okay girls! Time to get ready for bed!” Already jammied up, this was met with no resistance as they shared the stool to brush their teeth…It was too easy.
--Phone call from my mother: “Well at least since they’re so little, you won’t have to deal with the whole staying up all night.” Me: “Oh, yeah…Totally.”
9:15 p.m. – 12:15 a.m. –
- “I need water.”
- “I’m scared.”
- “Aunt Becca, Abby doesn’t want to sleep in the tent.”
- “I want a cup.”
- “I’ve got to go potty.”
- “Can I call my mom to say goodnight?”
- “Abby wants to sleep in the tent again.”
- “Where’s my sleep buddy?”
- “I’m cold.”
- “Will you zip us in the tent?”
- “I love you.”
5:45 a.m. – Hearing the girls get up to use the bathroom, I continue dozing on the couch. However…I am again raised from my sleep to realize I still hear two silly girls. As I drag myself off the couch, I see that the light in Abby’s room is on. I open the door to two guilty looking girls who each want to blame the other for playing at this ridiculous time of morning. However, I send them back into the tent where they sleep until…
8:30 a.m. – “Shhh be quiet.” We’re up and running for the day. The girls have their breakfast, we catch some Saturday morning cartoons, and cap off our slumber party with some Go Fish and Crazy Eights.
While getting them to go to sleep definitely wasn’t easy-peasy I think we’ll go ahead and bill our first slumber party as a success!
 We are now a week away from Valentine's Day. Admittedly, it's one of my least favorite "holidays," but it is a day I appreciate for the little ones in my life. I remember how much fun I had making my little Valentine's mailbox in school and giving and receiving valentines to my classmates.
Over in Examiner.com land, I've embarked upon a week of sharing love stories to our children that are must‐haves for your home library.
We started the week off with On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman. This is an incredibly beautiful book that should be given to each baby upon their arrival into this world. For a closer look at this book, head on over to my Examiner column and check it out.
What are your plans for Valentine's Day this year? For us, I think we're going to go on a heart scavenger hunt around the house. Keep an eye out for all things Valentine's this week on the Examiner front.
Ahhh, hard to believe that 2010 is coming to a close already. New Year's Eve is a rather intriguing kind of a "holiday" to me. I really like getting together with friends and family and playing oodles of games and sharing lots of good food and laughter, but by the time midnight finally rolls around...It's kind of a letdown. It seems like there should be something more about this shift into a whole new year of fresh opportunities for change and growth, and yet...
As I look back over 2010 I'm proud of my venture into the world of professional writing and can only hope and pray for continued growth in this pursuit. I look at my gorgeous girl and can hardly believe she's four-years-old, has been out of diapers for the better part of a year, and has her ears pierced. We are less than two years away from kindergarten, which leaves me wondering just where I'm going to go once that happens.
Looking forward to 2011: I'm hoping Abby and I finally find our groove in working together on preschool stuff. I hope I continue to get picked up to do freelance work for Simply Family Magazine. I can hardly believe I will be 30 this year, and wonder if this will be the year where I officially feel like an adult. (Part of me doubts this will ever happen for me, I have too much kid inside, but ya never know). The husband and I will celebrate 9 married years together already. Madness! While my parents will celebrate a major landmark in their marriage; celebrating 40 years!
With much behind us, yet so very much to come, I guess it's okay if New Year's Eve doesn't live up to all its hype. Wishing you and your family a spectacular 2011!
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
If you'd like to check out the New Year's articles up and running on my Examiner.com column:
This past week has seen two articles about traveling over in Examiner.com from this girl and you can expect at least one more on the topic. This time of year is often synonymous with traveling as families are driving or jetting off to see the broader scope of their family or heading off for a much needed vacation.
My mom and I were talking about what she used to do with us during winter break from school, and she noted that we were traveling more often than not, so it wasn't much of an issue for us. Indeed we were. I would be interested to know just how many trips we made back and forth to Minnesota over the course of my childhood into young adulthood. I think we flew twice in all of those years.
Ask any of us for memories about those numerous road tripsand we'll all begin tripping over each other with shared recollections - though it's always funny to see how our memories do or don't match. I think of the hours we spent in, first, the station wagon and then the mini van as we traveled near and far. I think of the arguments, the laughter, the extreme discomfort - and then I think about my poor mother...Yes, my dad too, but there was many a trip mom had to drive solo with the three of us, as dad needed to stay with the family business. Can you imagine?
Calling all funny family travel stories:
Have a humorous account of family traveling? Sure you do - it can be a recent story of travels with your children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews or it can be one from the realm of your own childhood. If you'd be willing to share it, then I'd love to feature it in an upcoming Fun Friday article. Simply send me an e-mail with your story. Please include if I can use your first name and location in the e-mail. Thanks for your help!
Since the inception of Family Night Tuesdays and Fun Fridays, each week I know I can bank on having two articles written, without fail. This can certainly lead to some level of anxiety as I try to come up with topics that are fun, helpful, and hopefully, witty. Regardless of this self-imposed pressure, I love writing these articles. They add a lighthearted quality to my column that, thus far, have received an overwhelmingly positive response from my readers. So today, I'm going to take the opportunity to highlight some of my most recent favorites from both of these.
Last week's Family Night article was a take off of the Christmas classic, The Twelve Days of Christmas. For our purposes, however, I whittled it down to the 'Six' days of Christmas. Believe me when I tell you, you'll have more fun if you sing along as you read the article.
One of the two Fun Friday pieces I'm going to feature here is the Top 10 reasons to be thankful to be a parent. This one I did all by my little lonesome self with no feedback from other parents. Simply, it is my current top 10 list why being a mom is so stinking fabulous! I tried to intersperse the funny with the sentimental - though all come very deeply from my heart. If you didn't happen to catch it, I hope you will.
[Image]My most recent Family Night piece highlighted a family recipe. Wait, scratch that - a beloved family recipe. Each year, I wait in eager anticipation for December so the wreath making can begin. If you've never had a cornflake, edible Christmas wreath...Well, I'll just pause here in a moment of silence for you...And then I'm going to direct you to the link to this article, as quickly as possible.
Each December I think of the other shapes I could use, the other food colorings that would work in order to adapt these delectable delights to other holidays, yet I never do. I so love these wreaths that at my baby shower, my sister and sis-in-law made them in the shape of baby booties. The shower was in December, but they just couldn't bring themselves to serve wreaths at a baby shower. I can vividly recall sneaking into my grandmother's kitchen with my siblings and cousins in the middle of the night with only the light of the fridge to guide us as we sneaked wreaths from the fridge. Seriously, if you've never had these, it's a must add to the holiday treat list.
For our final peak at the silly side of my column, I bring you last Friday's Fun Friday edition. This was a beautiful compilation of my own stories and stories from other parents. This article was From the mouths of babes. Amazing response on this one. People really seemed to enjoy it, but we're talking about the funnies kids say, so what's not enjoy? So many of the Friday articles would not come to fruition without these wonderful parents so willing to share pieces of their children with me - and by extension, you, so thank you all who contribute; I couldn't do it without you.
Hope you're having a wonderful week! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
|
RSS Feed
