Silly With Seuss Monday

Laugh and put things back in whack

"What would be wrong with a goldfish the size of a house?" my dad would ask me when I was a little guy. "You couldn't buy a fish bowl big enough to put it in," I would respond, and we would both laugh. Such were the silly, life-changing interactions we would have while reading Dr. Seuss classics such as A Fish Out Of Water.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born March 2, 1904. Whatever was out of whack before he came into the world, went back into whack with his arrival. His books stressed thinking and imagining without limits, for the greater good.



Perhaps people aren't reading enough Seuss lately because such skills are lacking among decision makers forming today's tragic tale. Things seem to have gone out of whack again, and our children's future is in peril.



Geisel did not have any children of his own, saying "you have 'em, and I'll entertain 'em". But it was never only about entertainment - I learned a lot snuggled into the crook of my dad's arm reading and re-reading books like Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, Are You My Mother, and The Lorax.



Mostly I learned: 1) to be myself, 2) to fight for what is right, and 3) to not take life (or myself) too seriously.



Even in today's technologically 'advanced' world, I would challenge any electronic medium to deliver anything even close to the experience and potential of sharing a good book with someone you love.


Especially a nonsensical, brain-enhancing story that makes you laugh while you learn. So simple. So in whack.


Wake up your brain cells and those of your kids. Read. Imagine. Get silly. Laugh. Care.


Re-write the story - make things better together.