the brave little snow panda masters the road
with a few big challenges along the way.
—
“this would not be a problem if i were driving a snowplow.”
-aaron allston
Jan30
Category Archives: children
Jan26
the genius of each.
as i worked on report cards over the last week
putting together my notes
gathering my thoughts
sharing my stories
telling their stories
i was reminded
that each child
has
their own gifts
their own challenges
yet each shares
without fail
a curiosity
a sense of wonder about the world
a desire to learn
and does so
in their own way.
—
“Do not train children to learn by force and harshness,
but direct them to it by what amuses their minds,
so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy
the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”
-Plato
—
image credit: Radhusets Julkalender 2012 – Arte del libro, Arte dell’illusrazione
Jan22
do you remember?
who remembers this?
sitting backwards
making faces
rolling around on turns
cigarette smoke-filled air
fighting over who could sit there
the door that swung open
back window down
best seat ever.
—
“like all great travelers, i have seen more than i remember, and remember more than i have seen.”
-benjamin disraeli
—
image credit: doyouremember.com
Dec10
sudden.
a quick exit.
why so sudden?
had goldilocks been there and heard the bears coming home?
—
“the first bowl of chocolate pudding was too hot, but goldilocks ate it all anyway because, hey, it’s chocolate pudding, right?”
-Mo Willems (author)
Nov25
box-sledding.
what could be better
then box-sledding
on dirt and dried grass
while dreaming of snow?
—
“my first playpen was a cardboard box.”
-michael lee-chin
Nov23
atomic.
what child wouldn’t put this on their holiday wish list?
—
“it is the weight, not numbers of experiments that is to be regarded.”
-isaac newton
—
credits: Rogue NASA, Weird History
Nov12
backwards.
and why not turn around and create your shaving cream art while backwards?
all it takes is a fresh idea and a willingness to try a new approach.
—
“i think backwards. ‘this was beautiful,’ instead of forward.”
-alice herz-sommer
Nov1
madelines on my mind.
shared a kitchen and an online live cooking class
with one of my grandies today
we had
a fast-working sur la table pastry chef
equipment, ingredients, and time
we both worked hard for 2 hours
improvised along the way
scrambled to find things
as the chef added in a few surprises
like making two royal icings
of different consistencies
all while
white chocolate melted
dark chocolate melted
not burning
never mixing
coloring the icings
buttering and chilling the pan
twice
after many, many steps
we had pretty much trashed the entire kitchen
but in the end
we had created
wonderful french madelines – vanilla bean halloween style
more tiny cakes than cookies.
“cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. and cooking done with care is an act of love.”
-craig claiborne
Oct25
reaching out.
one friend shares her flower with another
—
as a teacher of young children
i am always struck
by the natural way
that children connect with each other
reaching out
with genuine kindness and kinship.
—
“anyone who takes time to be kind is beautiful.”
-author unknown
Oct14
it’s complicated.
oh, we all have those days
you start out by not having your water bottle
so you get a special halloween cup of water
it gets tipped over when you are cutting
you go to get a paper towel to dry it up
but you come back with what you can find
toilet paper
that gets wet and mushy
the extra part rolls out on the floor
your coat falls off of the back of your chair
the paper you were cutting gets soaked and chopped into little pieces
because you are really good at cutting
you can’t find the cap to your marker
because it rolled off your table
now it might dry up
all you have left are the dark color crayons
you don’t get time to finish your cheez-its
because you are trying to clean up
the ones that are left get wet and are mushy
you go out to recess and run and run and go on a pirate adventure
your teachers love you anyway and tell you it happens to them too
and it’s all okay.
—
“there’s no limit to how complicated things can get,
on account of one thing always leading to another.”
-E. B. White
I didn't have my glasses on.... 