Funny and True

Ogden Nash said it simply and beautifully when he penned:

Children aren't happy
with nothing to ignore,
And that's what parents
were created for.

Be Careful with What You Read to Kids!

I have a proven strategy with Mark when it comes to reading. It may even classify as a manipulation, but I prefer to call it a strategy. Mark really enjoys reading and being read to, but he always struggles to choose a book. My strategy is this: I choose I book I'm interested in reading or I want him to read and I present it to him. He usually says something like, "I don't want to read that." I reply, "That's fine; you don't have to read it, but may I read just one chapter to you?" Since he loves to be read to, he gives his permission. So, I read one chapter (or even part of a chapter) and he's "hooked." When I get to the end of the chapter I stop and he almost always begs me to go on. This is when I usually complain that I'm tired of reading so he'll take the book and read it on his own. If I'm really interested in the book, I'll continue reading and end up reading the entire book to him over the course of a few days.

We just finished reading "The Brothers Lionheart" by Astrid Lindgren (of Pippi Longstocking fame). This is one of the books that really captivated me, so I read it to him. I'll spare you the details, but will tell you that it is a great adventure story about two very heroic brothers. All went well with the plot until the very last page when the brothers commit suicide so that they can both be together in Nangilima (another level of "Heaven"). One brother became paralyzed by a dragon's fire, and the brothers didn't want to be separated. Quite the ending for a children's book, and an ending I didn't expect.

When I pick the next book for Mark to read, you can be sure I'll skip ahead and read the ending to myself before I start reading the book aloud to Mark!

Mother, I Love You!

Throughout his nearly 11 years, Mark has expressed his love for me in some unusual and funny ways. Here is a sampling of a few of the most memorable sayings:

"You're one of the best moms in the whole world; in fact, you are probably in the top ten. You might even be number 2 or number 1!"

"Life just isn't complete without a great mother."

"Mom, you're as beautiful as you are kind, and you are very beautiful! Dad is as handsome as he is mean, and he is very, very handsome!"

"I'm really going to miss you when you die, Mom, and I'm going to visit your grave every day. I want to be buried right next to you."

"My love for you burns with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns!"

Tagged by Annica

My darling daughter, Annica, "tagged" me. I've never been "tagged" before (unless I count playing "Tag" in elementary school). I assume that the new "tag" rule is to give 5 random facts about myself. Here goes:

1. I LOVE April Fool's Day! I taught Zachary's Sunday School class today and the lesson was on Satan's illusions and deceptions. I made my famous chocolate-covered onions to share with the class and to use as an object lesson. No one liked them.

2. I LOVE watching football. It doesn't even really matter what teams are playing, I just love watching the game.

3. I met Donny Osmond once. (He said "hi" to me as we passed in the hall on our way to the same meeting in our BYU Stake.)

4. Lance kissed me before we ever went on our first date. (That's a completely separate story.)

5. I enjoy grocery shopping!

Book Thoughts

In a previous post I mentioned the important role books play in my life and promised to share a few "gold nuggets" I discovered in my reading. In no particular order, here are a few thoughts from 3 books I've recently read.

From Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman:

"When you read silently, only the writer performs. When you read aloud, the performance is collaborative. One partner provides the words, the other the rhythm." (page 133)

From The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho:

"If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man." (page 85)

"If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve upon the present. what comes later will also be better." (page 103)

"People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams. because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." (page 130)

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." (page 141)

". . . when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too." (page 150)

From Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert:

". . . each of us is a part-time resident of tomorrow." (page 16)

"Forestalling pleasure is an inventive technique for getting double the juice from half the fruit." (page 17)

". . . one of the many things that distinguishes us from rats and pigeons is that we respond to the meanings of . . . stimuli and not to the stimuli themselves." (page 156)

" . . . a psychological immune system . . . defends the mind against unhappiness in much the same way that the physical immune system defends the body against illness . . . A healthy psychological immune system strikes a balance that allows us to feel good enough to cope with our situation but bad enough to do something about it." (page 162)

"There are many good things about getting older, but no one knows what they are." (page 196)

Stay tuned for more to come . . .

Surprise Birthday Trip

Last week I took a trip to surprise my dear old dad.
It was his birthday, and I wanted to make him glad.
It was hard to keep the secret from being leaked to him,
But he didn't catch the clues since his hearing's growing "dim."
Annica and Josh were also in on the surprise.
We arrived at the same time. You should have seen Dad's eyes.
He's never at a loss for words and said something funny:
"Why did you come? You should have just sent me the money!"
We partied for days with family members and friends.
I am sure my papa thought, "I hope this never ends."
We went up in the mountains and took a horse-drawn ride.
We saw a herd of elk; a nice rancher was our guide.
We had Dad's birthday dinner; he got a new "laptop."
We dined out and played cards, but the fun soon had to stop.
I hopped back on the airplane and headed to my home.
My trip was quickly finished, and now so is my poem!