“A three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.” -Bill Vaughan

“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind — are always attained by giving them to someone else.”- Peyton Conway March I am trying to teach my son to share. I use big words like generosity, but he cant say that yet. He shouts Mine! instead. Its about a shark-head bike helmet (ridged with pointy white teeth and a blue fin on top). He doesnt want his little sister to even touch it. The merest tickle of her tiny finger along the helmet sends him into spasms of Mine, mine, mine!

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. -Picasso Alessio and I are in the garden. He is dressed in his papas old shirt that comes down to his feet. Its smeared with paint globs and bright fingerprints of red and blue. His easel is set up, but my son prefers making himself the work of art. He is enjoying every minute. I am trying to hurry him. Get that masterpiece finished, now! I have a bunch of errands to do. Its my day off, but my days off are as overloaded as my work week.

“Live, love, laugh and be happy” -Red Red Robin by Harry Woods As a kid, I woke every morning to my mom singing Red Red Robin. The song was my alarm clock. It was hard to get up grouchy when the instructions for the day were so loud and clear: Live, love, laugh and be happy.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer. – George S. Patton This blog is dedicated to GraceLikeRain, mother of four, who recently wrote in about her childrens fears. I couldnt stop thinking about her courage – while her husband is in Afghanistan, she is raising their family. Four children under six years old! My son was afraid of hats. It had something to do with The Cat in the Hatby Dr. Seuss. (He is a little sinister, come to think of it.) It didnt matter what kind of hat – any time I tried to put one on him, it was as if a monster were about to sit on Alessios head. That mysterious Cat and his striped top-hat had also triggered other anxieties in my toddler: bicycles and umbrellas, to name a few. Yet The Cat in the Hat is still one of Alessios favorite books. Fear. We all have it. It’s a fact of human nature. A survival tool meant for our own good. Fight or flight. Knowing when to stand strong and when to run.