A few weeks ago, Ava was feeling a little under the weather. She had a really really runny nose and was just a tad slower and crankier than usual. She didn’t have a fever or much of a cough so we did our best to push through, giving her lots of water, oranges and TLC.
I wish I had thought of it sooner, but I remembered that we have the book “Bear Feels Sick.” It’s one in a series of delightful Bear books by Karma Wilson (Ava’s favorite is “Bear Snores On“) and I had picked it up ages ago at Goodwill. Anyway, I pulled it out and we read it together. Afterwards, I pointed to a quilt nearby and said it looked like the one in our story- would Ava like to let me take care of her and tuck her in? Well, her little toddler eyes lit up and we quickly set a “bed” up on the floor.
We started to read the book again and got to a part where Bear’s friends make him tea. I asked if she wanted to try some and she smiled and said “Tea!”
Contrary to her expression in the last picture, she actually liked her tea, and drank a good amount of it (it was herbal and orange flavored). We kept reading the story and saw that Bear’s friends put a cool washcloth on his head… so of course, we had to do that too.
Ava then starts saying, “there’s no place like home” since Aunt Em puts a washcloth on Dorothy’s head at the end of the movie (which makes my Wizard-of-Oz-loving heart extremely happy).
It is continually amazing to me the connections kids can make about the world around them. Bear feels sick like Ava felt sick. Ava had a washcloth on her head like Dorothy had a washcloth on her head. Helping kids make these connections helps them understand the world around them in a more complex way. And if I can link Ava’s current experiences to a book, it fosters a love of reading that will hopefully last her entire life. That’s a mom win to me!
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Noticing the Happy 