I had no intention of celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday when it came around. Being very pregnant at the time, it was all I could do to make it through a day of normal school activities, much less plan anything special. But then, I woke up that morning and saw the adorable posts everyone had up and suddenly felt the urge to do something. And with that “something” I learned an important lesson.
There was no advanced prep and no lesson plan. The day was an impromptu celebration in every sense. I googled a few activities, printed off a few pages from the pbs.org website, and then went to the kitchen to brainstorm breakfast.
I stood in the kitchen for a few seconds and listened to my own cravings. Waffles sounded good. With sprinkles. Anything’s a celebration with sprinkles. I opened the fridge to survey what I had there for more ideas. There were some thawed strawberries swimming in their own juices; a little strawberry juice would make a nice sugar glaze for the waffles. And the green punch (compliments of my baby shower) would add the perfect finishing touch.
Then, we made Thing 1 and Thing 2 from popsicle sticks and a pom-pom cut in half. We made a Dr. Seuss bookmark, colored a few pages, read several Dr. Seuss books, played our Dr. Seuss games, and overall had a very memorable, fantastic day. The kids talked about it for days.
My important lesson? It doesn’t take much to make a memory, just a sincere effort. I didn’t spend hours planning the party. And it took very little effort overall (besides breakfast and the Things). Yet, the result was extremely rewarding. And honestly, it really would have been a shame not to join in all the fun. Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss. And thanks for all the many happy memories.
