Earth Day Schmerf Day

"Got Gaia?"

Up with Earth!
Of all things green!
Up with our planet!
Of the "eco-chic" scene!

Let's plant in our children
Seeds of hope and progress
And not terrify them
With nature's last gasp

Note: Nick just celebrated his 3rd B'Earth Day. But really, every morning when I see his face I am grateful for his existence. And while I get the idea of setting aside one day a year to raise awareness about the environment, I don't need an anvil to remind me that we live on a pretty cool planet and should take care of it.

Oh, and kids don't need that headache either.

Wall Street Journal columnist Meghan Cox Gurdon takes eco-writers to task in "Scary Green Monsters" - well worth the read for its on-target reviews of the most popular children's eco books.

I dig propoganda as much as the next one, but in my children's books, I like it light on the MESSAGE and heavy on the IMAGINATION.

(Thanks to Janice Harayda for the tip.)

Saturday Story Time

"Word Exchange"

A little piece finds peace
A chance challenge
A ruler take measure
That was my read on it...

Books We Read:

Pezzetino

Fortunately

The King, the Mice and the Cheese

Songs We Sang:

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

If You're Happy And You Know It

Saturday Story Time

"As I See It"

If letters climb trees
Expecting to find
A better vantage point
Than the one left behind

Then what of the cows
Refusing to work
With demands of warmth
While their "boss" goes berserk?

Reminds me of rabbits
Intriguing at best
With a "box" of ideas
For their imagination quest.

- ncw

Books We Read:

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

Not A Box

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Songs We Sang:

Sing After Me (Echo Song)

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Book: The Outdoors

Everything I wanted to know
I learned from a book
Everything I needed to know
I learned from a look

Everything I didn't know
I learned from a lesson
Everything I've yet to know
Will leave its own impression

- ncw

Note: Tonight we will read our newest library sale find, The Outdoors Book (50 cents!!). It's a nice, crunchy, tree-hugging 70's Britannica book about the big blue marble we live on. After covering air, plants, soil, water, it ends with a great call to action:

The world outdoors is filled with wonders.

Enjoy it...
Explore it...
Take care of it
as part of the Earth,
our home!

In other words, get your nose out of this book and go outside!

Alan Fortescue, Director of Education for Earthwatch Institute, has some great tips about getting your kids more "plugged in" to the outdoors here.

Tip: Follow the Child

"Ouroboros"

Pay attention
Listen to me
Do as I say
Follow my lead


Note: At dinner, Nick insisted on dropping his metal train on the hardwood floor - repeatedly. It drove me nuts until Lori pointed out that this is how he would learn about gravity. So we dropped different objects - paper, pens, more metal trains - to see the differences.

(Much more effective than reading about Newton - which we have done.)

Then I weighed the cost of repairing each nick versus the return on investing in Nick.

Nick won.

It is difficult for this bookworm to admit that sometimes you must look up from the pages and actually experience life.

Saturday Story Time

The zaniness of ABC's
The vagaries of 7 seas
The certainty of fortune's path
Made us giggle, made us laugh

Books We Read:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Wave

Fortunately


Songs We Sang:

I've Got Two (bonus: check out the original video!)



Where is Thumbkin?

Poetry Friday: Who Has Seen The Wind?

Chicago has many things to love about it.
Spring weather is not one of them.
Victorian homes have many things to love about them.
Insulation is not one of them.

In honor of our "Windy City" weather, I offer this classic...and an update.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

- Christina Rossetti, Victorian poet

Who has felt the wind?
Surely you and I:
For when our teeth chatter and shake
The wind is passing by.

Who has felt the wind?
Surely I and you:
Our contractor skipped a critical step,
Now the wind is passing through.

- Nadine Warner, Victorian owner

Note: Rossetti wrote a collection of nursery rhymes called Sing-Song. We actually do recite Who Has Seen the Wind on those particularly blustery days, and what I like about the poem is its ability to convey the unseen to young listeners in a very simple, accessible way.

(Try explaining the concept of helium gas in a ballon to a 2-year-old. You won't get very far.)

Poetry helps us see the unseen. What a wonderful gift to give our children.