Category Archives: children

advice.

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out walking with the kinders

i come up behind

an unlikely pair

who generally aren’t together,

mid-conversation.

one who is learning to cope

with separating from a twin,

the other who is having a hard time coping

with separating from a best friend.

the only real separation

is that the friend/twin in each case

wants to seek out other friends

and expand their horizons.

one says to the other,

“i know she wants to play with other people

and when she needs to do that,

i just let her go.

i know it’s what she has to do

and then she comes back later.”

the other responds,

“wow. how do you do that?”

she answers,

“it’s just what you do.”

i am amazed by

this four year-old’s insight and advice,

as many adults

still have not mastered this understanding.

—–
the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.

it is never of any use to oneself.

– oscar wilde

image credit: google images

roller coaster math.

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thecoastercritic.com

what do you think, little f,

should we have another baby one day ?

no.

why not?

because of the roller coaster.

what?

the roller coaster.

why?

because then you’d have 3

and someone would always

have to sit alone.

yes, i see now.

life is a roller coaster; you can either scream every time you hit a bump

or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy! 

– author unknown  

image credit: the coaster critic.com

 

“and all the colors i am inside have not been invented yet.” – shel silverstein

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as our year together

comes to an end

sharing

an oval rug

a room

a building

the great outdoors

the community around us

we venture into new territory

making the leap

across snake rock

something new

and not so scary

with big kids

to lead the way

and

teachers

standing by

quietly watching

as

they grow into

their next adventure

with little fear

 with great excitement

and

just a few tears.

“ listen to the mustn’ts, child,
listen to the don’ts.
listen to the shouldn’ts.
the impossibles, the won’ts.
listen to the never haves.
then listen close to me—
anything can happen, child,
anything can be.”

– shel silverstein

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a community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. – henrik ibsen

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community helpers wear many hats.

never be afraid to sit a while and think. – lorraine hansberry

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a young artist contemplates her surroundings

 

being in the same room with people and creating something together is a good thing. – robin williams

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IMG_2464the kinders create

 

“sometimes it’s best to hide in plain sight.” ― david estes

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rarely-seen

ever-elusive

crooked-lensed

rat squirrel

was seen in my room today.

sometimes i lie awake at night, and i ask, ‘where have i gone wrong?’ then a voice says to me, ‘this is going to take more than one night.  – charles schultz

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once again

it seemed

like a good idea

at the time.

i was seven years old

when my

very cute

neighbor/paper boy

jd

 told on me

for riding my bike

where i wasn’t

allowed to be riding

i got caught lying

by my mother

who asked me about it

i never was

a good actress

and there were

consequences

so together

with one of my sisters

and our good friend

we planned

our sweet revenge

in a style

only young children

could create.

we would collect

a huge pile of burrs

from the field

behind our houses

hide it in our summer tent

 wait for the boys to show up

and

throw it at him

so he’d see who he messed with.

but

it took so long

 it was such a hot summer day

 it was so boring in there

and

i fell asleep in the tent

but somehow curled up

right on our

prickly pile of revenge

and

i woke up

with my hair

horribly embedded

with the all the burrs

so i

 burst out crying

 walked inside

 asking nana

to help me

brush them out

i lost lots of hair

 it hurt

 it took

what seemed like hours

and

when it was over

my hair resembled

a giant ball of split end fuzz

so i

 i went out on the front porch

to relax and eat a popsicle

and saw jd

delivering our paper

and

his hair looked darn good.

leave no stone unturned. – euripides

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he spent all of his recess

digging in the

hard muddy ground

with a

broken plastic shovel

and a little team

of even littler friends

and at long last

all of this hard work

paid off

and he

presented this

very special

treasure

a rock

in all

its

muddy glory.

geologists have a saying – rocks remember.
– neil armstrong

the sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~ralph waldo emerson

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‘neath bright blue sky

upon wide open fields of snow

with no end in sight

nothing to do

but to run and to play

on such

a fine

and lovely

winter’s day.

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— 

nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere

and the circumference nowhere.

– blaise pascal