Teach Your Children Well

Learning to read is all well and good. But there are crucial lessons to be instilled in young minds, and in this regard, Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad excel. From them I learned:

1. The joys of crossing items off lists. Hint: include already-done or sure-to-happen items to ensure cross-off opportunities regardless of actual accomplishment. Toad goes with the classic “Wake Up.” I’ve been known to write “Make to-do list” or the only slightly more sneaky “Get self organized.” Seriously. (See “The List”)

2. Will power is overrated – generally, you just should keep eating the cookies. Also applies to ice cream and cake. (See “Cookies”)

3. Melting ice cream is a serious emergency that requires immediate attention and prompt licking or it will get completely out of control. I like to think I’ve perfected my own technique with many years of practice. (See “Ice Cream”)

4. When you’ve lost something, its usually on the floor of your room. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll ever find it, especially if the floor of your room looks anything like mine. Sometimes I forget what the actual floor of my room looks like, since its rarely visible what with all the junk and clothes covering it. (See “A Lost Button”)

5. Cleaning up is generally a waste of time, since it will probably just get messy again right away. (See “The Surprise”)

6. Everyone loves to get mail! Bills do not count. Neither do advertisements sent to Current Resident. (See “The Letter”)

7. When inanimate objects aren’t doing what you want them to, shout at them – it works! When I was little I used to employ the slight variation of singing at them. Specifically, I made up a clever song to get the bus to come. It went “Here, bussy bussy bussy. Heeeerrrre bussy bussy bussy.” They loved me at the bus stop. (See “The Kite”)

About these ads