For the Love of Seuss

Dr. Seuss is often silly
But his books are more than Willy Nilly.
His lessons survive the sands of time
Teaching us more than just how to Rhyme.

I could recite Wocket in my Pocket by heart. One Fish's diverse characters (and the voices I gave them) kept me from boredom though repetition the way Caillou could not, Yet with an appetite for change, a trip with the Tater Tots to the Millennium Library brought back to our office some old classics that I'd only known the names of. Not sure I read them as a kid myself but they made a lasting impression on me as I left my teens behind. 


The Lorax, written 40 years ago, taught early tree huggers the value of a forest. The Grinch, in his popularity, reminds us every year of the secular meaning of Christmas, (anti-consumerist activism at it's best) but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that Dr. Seuss' wisdom nearly moved me to tears.

Feeling bored at home with my kids years later I asked myself What Would Nanny Leah Do? It was then remembered how much fun I had Free-Ranging with the boys at the library and finding treasures. So I loaded my double stroller with my kidlets and went 'On an Adventure' - as the Cat in the Hat would now say.

An adventure indeed. It was stressful and frustrating. Leaving my stroller outside, I carried my 20lb five month old in my arms as my two year old blasted through the quiet sanctuary of books, harassing school age girls with his obvious statements about which items were tables and which were chairs. Corralling him while browsing books was a challenge I could have set myself up better for.

Alas we finally made our way to the checkout with a few new stories to discover that my boy is now poopy and my adventure wasn't over yet. Using my strength, patience and pure trained skills I changed him with one hand, still holding the baby, while he stood on a wall mounted change table because I refused to put her on the floor of the bathroom in the public library.

By the time we left the library and went back to the stroller, I was thoroughly fed up and hot. I marched home. Feeling like I'd just run a marathon I tossed the books aside while the three of us had our afternoon tantrum together.

Days later, before bedtime I remembered the new books we hadn't read yet and snuggled on the couch to read, Oh, the Places You'll go. After only a few pages I knew this would be a book I had to own. The whimsy of Seuss still rampant though it's pages yet, wiser words were not found in Life of Pi or Sophie's World, my treasured novels of philosophy. It had a message of adventure without the sugar coating most kids books feel mandatory these days. It had a realism about the toil and trouble that life has to offer and the comfort of a seasoned parent in it's tough love fact that you must push past the scary stages and phases of our life's journey.


"You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
...
 With a banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of guy!"

My perilous quest to the library was worth it. The encouragement in that book was exactly what I needed to hear. Putting life in perspective, Bumps and Slumps are part of learning because "Un-Slumping yourself is not easily done" but with "Brains in your head and feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose".

I choose to read as much Seuss as possible in my early childhood philosophy, reminding Plato and Niche not to take life so seriously.