My Many Colored Days by Dr Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

My Many Colored Days by Dr Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Rating: 4.5 stars

Well here's a book about something I neither practice nor preach!  But, funnily, I still love it.

Here's the good news: We pass our own habits on to our children.  And now, the bad news: We pass our own habits on to our children.

Darn those double-edged swords.  Emotions are something I struggle to teach.  My father taught us to be in control of our emotions, to always think clearly and act deliberately rather than simply react thoughtlessly to circumstances.  And my mom (hi, mom!) was able to and taught us to put a smile on our face regardless of the situation.  So I actually expect my children to be cheerful and happy most of the time.  Moments of grumpiness, okay.  But all day long?  No way.  And, they are cheerful and happy the vast majority of the time.  I'm not sure if I'm denying them the "right" to be sad or angry or whatever...their therapists will let me know, I'm sure.  Hope they choose a cheap one.

Or maybe I'll slip this book under their pillows and they can learn about emotions through osmosis.

"On other days I'm other things
On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings."

But here are the words to this book.  I couldn't choose which stanzas I like the best, so here is all of it:

Some days are yellow. Some are blue.
On different days, I'm different too
You'd be surprised how many ways
I change on different colored days.
On bright red days how good it feels
To be a horse and kick my heels!
On other days I'm other things...
On bright blue days I flap my wings.
Some days, of course, feel sort of brown.
Then I feel slow, and low, low down.
Then comes a yellow day and wheeeee!
I am a busy, buzzy bee.
Gray day...everything is gray.
I watch.  But nothing moves today.
Then all of a sudden I'm a circus seal
On my orange days that's how I feel.
Green days.  Deep deep in the sea.
Cool and quiet fish, that's me.
But when my days are happy pink
It's great to jump and just not think.
Then come my black days.  MAD.  And loud.
I howl.  I growl at every cloud.
Then comes a mixed-up day and WHAM
I don't know who or what I am.
But it all turns out all right you see
And I go back to being me.