Two happy things

I've missed writing for you.  A busy schedule makes for both little time and low inspiration.  Since my last post not much has changed.  Scheduling goes in ups and downs in our family, and we are currently going through one heck of an up.  But I am stealing a few minutes today to share two things that have made me happy.

First, a book.  Not any of the grown-up books I have been diving back into, but a children's book.  In almost three years of parenting, this has taken over as my favorite.  You Are Special, by Max Lucado, warms my heart every time I read it to my son.  It's about the Wemmicks, wooden puppets who live in a land created by the puppet-maker Eli.  They spend their days giving each other stickers; stars for good things, dots for bad.  The story centers around Punchinello, a puppet who has a lot of dots.  I read it the first time to my son without having read it to myself before, and I had to choke back tears a little to keep going.  I know he doesn't understand the underlying meaning yet, just the story of puppets, but if he at least hangs onto a little piece of the message, I'll be happy.  I actually think there are a lot of adults who would benefit from the message, too.  So if you're in the library sometime and have a few minutes to spare, find it.  I've actually just discovered that this is part of a series, so I'm going to have to do some searching for the others.  This one though, stands just fine on its own.

Next, a blog.  I should explain first that I avoid the website Pinterest at all costs.  Something about it has always just made me feel uneasy.  It stressed me out from the moment I opened the home page, and I quickly left.  I also remember commenting when I had an infant and was reading a lot of parenting magazines that they just made me feel like every other mother in the world had more time, creativity, and awesome skills than I did.  Enter this blog, "Your Children want YOU", which perfectly explained to me why those things caused me anxiety.  I am very grateful to the author April Perry, for a nice little slap to the side of the head to remind me that I am the awesomest.  (brief disclaimer, I haven't spent a lot of time looking at the website that this blog is posted on, so I can't speak to the quality of The Power of Moms site.  But this particular blog is darn good.)

So that's what I've got for now.  Hope to see you again soon with stories of more awesomeness.