Hellobee

The older I get the more I think about the traits I want to pass down to my children. Empathy is high on that list and I try to model that in my daily behavior, but am not always sure I am doing a good job in truth. I think of myself as an empathetic person overall, but I struggle with showing that in my day to day life to my children. I often feel overwhelmed with taking care of everything in our lives and many times I feel that I dismiss or wave away their emotions, especially when I am busy and stressed out. I am trying to make a conscious effort to realize that even though I can find some of their behavior to be irritating, it’s not fair and poor modeling on my part to dismiss them so quickly.  I wish I could say that with this knowledge I am now going to be the most thoughtful and empathetic mother to them ever, but we all know that isn’t likely to happen. It’s a work in progress for myself and in the meantime I have started to look for books to read them with empathy as a theme.

Books are always my way of sharing the world with my children. I hope when I read to them I can use examples from our day to show my own feelings of frustration and impatience, while also trying my best to acknowledge my failings in understanding theirs.  This is clearly a long term goal for me, but one I feel is vital in raising the children that I hope to send out into the world one day.

The Sneetches One of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories to date. I loved it as a child and was delighted when Drake came home last year from kindergarten. I bought a copy for our house and read it often, as I think it really illustrates the idea of how we are all the same, stars or not.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee  Drake’s grandmother bought him this book last Christmas and I never thought much about it even after reading it a few times to Drake. Then one day Drake commented about how nice it was that the animals went to visit Amos when he was sick. It sparked a conversation about the kindness Amos showed them daily and how when he was in need how they returned his kindness back.  After that, I started to really love this story more and more.

The Giving Tree  As a child I always felt so sad for the tree after the boy left, which I think was the point. Even at a young age, I could feel her pain and sadness and I think in its simple manner this is one of the best stories to show feelings and understanding the feelings of others.

Last Stop on Market Street  I haven’t read this one but it has come up a lot on my book searches as well as being a top rated book on Amazon this year, so I plan on checking it out soon. It’s about a little boy learning about finding beauty and goodness in a simple bus ride with his Nana.

Bluebird A wordless book that draws you in visually with an unexpected splash of color as the bluebird enters the story.  I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s a wonderful, imaginative story. Since it’s wordless it can spark a lot of different interpretations and conclusions.

Horton Hears A Who  After the success with the Sneeches I bought Horton for Drake. Like all of Dr. Seuss’ books, the message of everyone mattering (no matter how small) rings clear.

I’m Here Peter Reynolds is wonderful in his messages all tied together with his trademark illustrations. The little boy in the book so reminded me of Drake and it’s a great reminder that even children who don’t always march with the group are still there and want the same things everyone else does even if they want it in different ways.

Can I Play Too? Leave it to Gerald and Piggie to teach all of life’s important lessons! In this story, Gerald and Piggie are playing catch and Snake wants to join in the fun. After some pondering about Snake’s ability to play a game that requires arms they eventually find a way to play all together because that’s always more fun than leaving some out.

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I would love to know your ideas in the form of books and general things that work for you to help teach this very important, at least in my mind, life trait.