Dancing with Daffodils

I love to read and for the last five years, I’ve enjoyed reading to my children.  The most special time I had with my dad was when he would read to me and now I find that snuggling up with my kids, having them quiet and listening, having a shared experience while reading a good book is my most special time with them. As with adult literature, I’ve come to learn that there are definitely books for children that are poorly written, have bad illustrations, have unlikable characters or just a terrible story, all of which detracts from our special time together.  When we go to the library I skim through every book my kids pick out before I agree to bring it home and even then, if once we’ve read it I don’t like it, I hide it back in the library bag. Perhaps you think I’m too controlling, or perhaps you also have children and know that they often pick out the same story over and over again and with a bad story, once is more than enough.   I am always on the lookout for qu...

It is November and with a bag full of Halloween candy sitting in front of me, it is time to be grateful. While I do believe it is best to be grateful all year long, I’m proud to live in a country that makes time for us to contemplate our blessings and feel gratitude for their abundance at least once a year.  As part of this annual exercise in thankfulness, I’ve made my list below (in no particular order). 1.  A healthy body.  I’m grateful that I can run (in theory) and play and get around.  I’m grateful to be able to have children and that I have energy to take care of them.  I’m a good sleeper, have no chronic pain and am able to use all of my senses.  It may not look exactly how I want it to look but it does what it needs to do and that is an immense blessing. 2.  A home.  I spend a lot of time in my home and I’m thankful that it is warm, safe, comfortable, relatively clean and a place to take care of my family.   3.  The ...