Don't Make Me Call My Flying Monkeys!: Facile Friday

When I was young, I had lots of Dr. Seuss books and I read those same books to my son. As Max grows older, he is all of 9 years old now, and we go through his books to make room for new ones, the Dr. Seuss books are ones always stay on the shelves.

I was thinking, after a recent culling of kiddie literature, that many of Dr. Seuss' stories have stuck with me and it appears as though I actually learned a lot from those wonderful rhyming books.

How many adults can quote Horton the elephant as he tells his charges on that little puff ball that they need to fight to be heard...“A person's a person, no matter how small.” Another funny thing that I thought of is how very apropos it is with all of the U.S. government silliness that has been going on and the apparent lack of concern on their part for the "little people" who are being effected. Have you read Yertle the Turtle? This little bit also speaks to our political situation right now.

"Your Majesty, please…I don’t like to complain,
But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down at the bottom we, too should have rights."

"And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be." (Yertle the Turtle)

One of my very favorite books has always been "On Beyond Zebra". I think it is one of the more obscure books, but I loved the idea that you can be creative and explore beyond what others might tell you are the boundries. That is what I have done for a living as a Recreational Therapist. I have to forget about what can't be done and figure out what can and then how to make it happen.

“My alphabet starts with this letter called YUZZ.
It’s the letter I use to spell YUZZ-a-ma-TUZZ.
You’ll be sort of surprised what there is to be found
Once you go beyond Z and start poking around!
So, on beyond Zebra!
Explore!
Like Columbus!
Discover new letters!
Like WUM is for Wumbus" (On Beyond Zebra)

Being creative and questioning what "IS" is a wonderful thing to pass on to children.

“THINK! You can think
any THINK
that you wish…” (Oh, the thinks you can think)

“Today is gone. Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.
Every day,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.” (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)

Other lessons that I learned from our good friend...
We need to feel happy with what we have and who we are.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” (Happy Birthday to You!)

“That’s why I say, “Duckie!
Don’t grumble! Don’t stew!
Some critters are much-much,
oh, ever so much-much
so muchly much-much more unlucky than you!” (Do you know how lucky you are?)

We need to be honest with ourselves about our strengths and our weaknesses and own them or work to change them.

“I said, ‘I do not fear those pants
With nobody inside them.’
I said, and said, and said those words.
I said them. But I lied them.” (What was I afraid of?)

We need to try new things.

“You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.” (Green Eggs and Ham)

We need to be kind.

“Well, what would YOU do
If it happened to YOU?

You couldn’t say “Skat!” ’cause that wouldn’t be right.
You couldn’t shout “Scram!” ’cause that isn’t polite.
A host has to put up with all kinds of pests,
For a host, above all, must be nice to his guests.
So you’d try hard to smile, and you’d try to look sweet
And you’d go right on looking for moose-moss to eat. “ (Thidwick the big-hearted moose)
Dr. Seuss has many more books and stories but these are just a few that I happen to love. I hope that Max continues to hold his Dr. Seuss in high esteem and learns far more than I did from his stories.

One last thing that I will share with you is my penultimate bit of verse. It always makes me smile and giggle and I think it just reminds me that life can be fun just because that is how you make it.

The remarkable Foon

who eats sizzling hot pebbles that fall from the moon!

And the reason he likes them red hot, it appears

Is he greatly enjoys blowing smoke from his ears.

(If I Ran the Circus)

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