when you want to change the color of your shoes
but don’t have a job
to make the money to buy them
and no one will hire you
just because you are a 4-year-old
even though you have a lot of energy
you find your own way to get those turquoise shoes.
—
“a busy mind is full of thoughts, a blissful mind is full of ideas.”
– amit kalantri, author
ted’s
where i spent many hours of my childhood
famous to many as a woodward drive-in restaurant and hot rod cruising spot back in the day
famous to me as the scene of many family dinners and celebration spot
and that one suumer day
when my older sisters and i walked up to ted’s
all on our own
the hostess seated us in a booth
feeling very grown up
pooling all of our change
looking at the menus
ordering 2 plates of french fries and lots of ketchup to share
when we finished, so proud of ourselves
the waitress dropped off our bill
my older sisters knew math
realizing that we didn’t have enough money to pay the bill
my sisters somehow negotiated with the waitress
to leave me in the booth while they ran home to get more money
i sat in the booth quietly waiting for their return
feeling what it meant to be a hostage
without ever having heard the word in my young life
i’d still like to know
how they got the waitress to agree to this
how they talked my mom into letting us go up there alone in the first place
perhaps we snuck up there
and what they told my mom when they returned home without me to get more money?
i’ll ask my sister the next time we meet.
not at ted’s.
—
“every happiness is a hostage to fortune.”
-arthur helps
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
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
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
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
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
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
when i was a little girl
one of my sisters used to bite her nails
when i’d look out the window
see the sliver of a moon
i thought that was her nail up there
wanting endlessly
to think of a way to get it back for her.
—
“it’s like we’re on a rocket ship that we were just painting,
and suddenly it took off
and we’re holding onto the ship with our fingernails.
– Esteban Contreras
a very special delivery
going to a very special place:
the fairy house in our school garden.
they will be so happy.
“find happiness by delivering it”
– chris murray
