You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.
Tomorrow is Dr Seuss’ and my son’s birthday.
While Theodore Geisel would be 109 tomorrow, and my son is just 5, the children’s author has been such a huge part of my son’s and daughter’s life since day one.
The first book I read to both of my children was “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”. The book they go to bed by is “The Sleep Book”, the story they ask to read more than any other is “The Lorax”. To that end, my son still thinks that seeded dandelions are truffula trees, and that we simply cannot perceive the people beneath them, because, “A person’s a person no matter how small.” (He still likes to blow the seeds off of them, proving he’s missing the point just a tad, but hey, everybody needs a thneed)
The book I most want them to wrap their developing minds around, and sew into the stitchings of their hearts is “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”
I want them to understand exactly what the book says. I want them to realize that they can fully realize their individual potential, that there’ll be ups and downs, confusing choices, and difficult decisions, but through it all they can persevere.
Oddly enough, I also want them to love The Cat in the Hat, because what the hell is the fun of life if there isn’t a little mayhem and mischief? I couldn’t possibly enjoy life without it.
Dr Seuss understood that children were unique as snowflakes. That was his most divine gift. People tried for years to box me into some cookie cutter version of what they thought I should be like, and it didn’t work. I rebelled against it, and it ended up harming me far more than helping me. Had Theodore Geisel been my teacher/shrink, I think I’d have been far better off. I love watching what makes my children unique. I love how my son throws himself into his imagination with wild abandon, creating movies on his iphone, and setting up scenes in our living room. I love watching my daughter feed all of her animals and dolls, and force our dog to attend tea parties.
We are all individual creatures. I know I am crazy, and I know that everyone has a little bit of their own crazy. What made Dr Seuss so incredible is that instead of dimming everyone’s freak flag, he managed to sew them together into a wonderful freak quilt of literature to warm us with when we’re feeling the cold of our loneliness.
Watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
The Sleep Book was my go to at night for a very long time but I think I it was more effective at putting my Dad to sleep than me. I often had my Dad read it to me just so I could watch him yawn just from seeing the pages of pictures of the yawing characters. We would read it in his bed then I would leave him there sleeping and report to Mom it happened again. Sadly I think it was in the basement a few months ago.
effing sandy. total bitch.
I also share your son and Dr. Seuss’s birthday. We love Dr. Seuss and my kids ask for green eggs and ham on his birthday every year. People think I am nuts for getting up early on my birthday just to make it for my kids. But to see their smiles and encourage the messages and the love of reading, I would do anything. Happy Birthday to your son!
We are bit Seuss fans here, too. Our baby shower was seuss themed! My favorite books are the Pale Green Pants & Fox in Socks. And Green Eggs & Ham! And I love the Sleep Book. I would count all the sleepy peeps every night.
Happy Birthday to your son! I read Dr Seuss to both my children, and like you tried to impress the philosophy of “Oh, the places you’ll go” on their hearts as well! I told them both that my greatest hope for them was that they’d have adventures! Well, my son is a firefighter who loves his job with every fiber of his being and my daughter goes to Senegal next summer to do her semester study tour for college because she wants to see Africa! I guess it worked, so keep reading Dr Seuss to your babies and give them roots and wings!