With my girls now in college, it seems like a long time ago when I was in the throes of that super hectic stage of parenting...when there isn’t enough time in the day, you worry that your busy-ness isn’t passing along all the lessons you want to teach, and in a nutshell, we are all in survival mode! But, my friend brought her girls, age 6 and 7, over to swim this week and it brought back a flood of memories of a simple principle – finding the silly in the serious – that helped me through those stressful times. My girls loved playing what we nicknamed the microphone game. I would take a piece of broccoli, pretend I was doing a newscast/interview where I asked the girls questions about their day, the broccoli was my microphone and I would say in my most serious voice – “whatever you do, don’t eat my microphone.”
You can guess what happens next... we would get through 1 or 2 questions and they would gobble up my microphone and laugh uncontrollably. I dusted that game off for my friend’s girls and they loved it just as much. We had carrot microphones, carrots with black olives on top, cauliflower, you name it. I texted a picture in our family group chat to which my girls said – oh, mom...it’s the microphone game! Ha. So, I guess what I’m passing along to anyone in survival mode...try to find the silly in the serious. Eating vegetables as a game, picnic dinner on the floor, dance parties on the coffee table, or whatever it takes for YOU to have fun while you’re doing such important work. Guarantee they won’t only eat broccoli unless it’s a microphone and guarantee they will have lasting, fun memories. Can’t wait to see what games you create!
LOLLY THE LEFT OUT LOBSTER is available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold, from BookLogix.
Lolly the Lobster gets swept up in a storm and is stuck in the woods, not knowing what to do. She is brave enough to continue asking for help from the forest animals after being shunned by several because she doesn’t belong. She finally finds some compassionate friends in an unlikely place who help her find her way home to her family and the sea.
Lolly’s adventure is a tale of whimsy meant to foster kindness, compassion, and understanding that it is OK to be different. Through Lolly’s eyes, readers explore the importance of approaching others with an open heart and mind. As Lolly navigates the challenges of feeling left out and finding friendship in an unlikely place, the story becomes a beacon of hope, reminding us that connecting with those different from us can make the world kinder and better.
