Amazing what memories a favorite toy can conjure up…When I was six years and recovering from minor surgery, my mom offered (okay, let’s be straight, “bribed”) me with three treats of my choosing. After careful consideration, I picked a visit to Jones Beach, Munchos potato chips and a pig in pickle car–and not necessarily in that order. A pig in a what, you say? No, it was not some strange variation of a passed hors d’oeuvre. If you grew up like I did, reading Richard Scarry’s Busytown, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. An imaginative world in which animals and various foods co-exist in harmony, the beloved porcine Mr. Frumble was second only to Lowly Worm who traveled in his signature apple car. (Others [&hellip
Reading with Walnuts Archive
My 3-year-old has perfected the art of relaxation. Thanks to one of her preschool teachers who is instructing her classmates on the practice of yoga, she knows how to breathe deeply when the going gets rough. “In through your nose and out through your mouth, Mommy. Like this,” she says as she demonstrates her newly found technique. I smile to myself because her older sister learned the same thing and, much to my amazement, it came in especially handy over the years when she just “needed a moment.” Now that I have two kids and am often found carting around both girls on errands, to and from activities, meltdowns aren’t exactly, shall we say, convenient. In my experience, I found that when my kids know [&hellip