happy 107th old man.

Well unless you've been under a rock all day, you probably know its the 107th birthday of the legendary Dr. Seuss...an oldie, but goodie. And, if you are a teacher, you have been anticipating and planning and worrying what to do, for this day since probably last week, ha ha. (one more reason being a teacher does not suck, admit it, its a nice worry to have.) 
At Dash's school (which is 3 days a week) they decided to step it up a notch and celebrate this great man and all his work the entire week! Hooray! All of the children were asked to bring in,wear, and/or share anything Dr. Seuss related each day. When I told Dash he was pumped. Not only does he have an early childhood teaching mother with TONS of Dr. Seuss paraphernalia, but he himself once had a Dr. Seuss themed bedroom...needless to say choosing just one thing each day was going to be the trick :-).
I was so excited, 1. because I knew Dash was going to be able to make the call on his own and I was looking forward to see what HE wanted to share with his class, and 2. These are the reasons I LOVE being a mama. The connection between home and school and being able to participate in HIS world, as opposed to him always following and learning from mine. We immediately headed out to the shed to dig through all of our loot. 
Day 1: Dash opted to actually BE the Cat in the Hat. He insisted on wearing his two sizes too small Cat in the Hat costume from two years ago. It fit more like shorts than pants, and the hat was a little snug, but he rocked it without batting an eye!
Day 2: Dash must have noticed after wearing that costume all day that life is just better when your pants aren't tight, so today he opted to wear his three sizes too big Thing One and Thing Two jammies set. He assured me if we rolled the waist and sleeves enough it would be fine, and it was :-). Not to settle with the same 'ol outfit type share, he convinced me that he HAD to take his matching lunch box...filled with fruit snacks for everyone to "love and enjoy." Who am I to deny both love and joy? That was that.
Day 3: For our final "show" Dash had the idea to bring in Swedish fish (his fav) and share with One Fish, Two Fish. I loved the idea. We talked more about where would the fish swim, blah blah, one thing led to another and we came up with a brilliant idea! We made blue jello and poured it into clear, plastic cups. We labeled each cup with a Dr. Seuss sticker and counted out enough "red (Swedish) fish" for each child to decide if they wanted to add one or two to their "water" cup. Cleaver if I do say so myself.


So, thank you Dr. Seuss for giving me reason to make these memories with Dash this week. Thank you for being a fail-proof go-to and making my life as a teacher much easier and enjoyable. Thank you for providing our family with the tradition of reading Happy Birthday to You on the special day each year. And, thank you Dr. Seuss for teaching me with your words....happy birthday old man!


"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."
-Dr. Seuss