You learn a lot of things when you become a mom. How to change diapers, how to burp a baby, how to wrangle an toddler, how to coerce said toddler into a carseat, the list goes on.
You also discover a lot of skills you never knew you had. Like who knew, my husband was an expert at getting a toddler to enjoy brushing his teeth?
I discovered that I have an absolutely incredible memory. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration – #mombrain is a very real thing – but, I have successfully memorized every word of at least a dozen children’s books. I’m talking verbatim. Every word of some rather wordy books for tots.
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I wish a few weren’t stuck in my head as I try to fall asleep… However, the others coincidentally include words that have spoken directly to me throughout this parenthood journey.
These authors have packed big lessons into little books that will encourage adults and children alike for decades to come.
I highly suggest keeping these children’s books within a toddler’s arm reach in your home.
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andraea
Our little guy was just six months old when his first pumpkin season rolled around. We of course wanted to capture the cliche “first pumpkin” photo, but had a hard time validating the $20 entrance into the fall festival. So instead, we grabbed lunch at the market across the street – and snapped a picture in his new blue jeans and onesie with the hay bales and pumpkins out front! We took the entrance fee we saved and headed to the bookstore to add some new titles to his book selection. Giraffes Can’t Dance was one of them and we have loved it ever since.
The tale follows a seemingly uncoordinated giraffe named Gerald through the Annual Jungle Dance. Poor Gerald doesn’t have the best track record with performing and is confronted with snickers from the other animals before he even gets to the stage. As he slumps off, words from a new friend change everything.
“Sometimes when you’re different, you just need a different song”
Gerald is encouraged to find the beat that lives inside him. The one that allows him to wow the other animals. No pun intended, these words should be music to our ears for anyone who has ever found themselves in the comparison trap.
We look at another mom or business owner who seems to have it all together. They’ve found success in a certain method and we expect the same results if we do things like them. And when we don’t find that success, we feel like a failure and slump off to the sidelines.
But what if we remembered that [fortunately] we aren’t just like them? We’ll realize that other methods are better suited to us, our personalities, our families and our gifts. We just have to find our own tune that fits our rhythm and groove.
I think about Gerald the Giraffe when I start to criticize or compare myself to others. He reminds me to turn up my song just a little bit louder and keep dancing along.
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
I’m a cryer. I can’t help it. When the words are sweet or the message is deep, the tears start to flow.
My cousin gifted us On the Night You Were Born early on and good gracious did the tears flow that first time I read it. Truth be told, they’ve flowed most times since then.
This sweet book takes your little one through the celebration around the world on the night of their arrival. The author tucks little reminders of their value and worth into the pages via everyday events they’re sure to encounter.
The grand lines that spoke straight into my heart as they entered his ears:
“For never before in story or rhyme, has the world ever seen a you, my friend. And it never will, not ever again.”
Ah! Right to my heart. Of course we tell our littles these sayings, but do we believe them in our own lives? At one time I did, but I think I let myself forget it.
If we believe our sweet babies were “wonderfully made” and “knit together in our womb” by the Creator – then we have to believe it in our own lives, too. We have to model what living with that truth looks like in real life. That means shutting down the self-deprecating talk and loving our bodies. It means pushing past fear and adversity to use the unique gifts that God has instilled in us. It means serving in the ways that we were designed to serve.
The last line of the book is another tear jerker, but I won’t spoil the surprise. When you read those final words to your kiddos, know that Heaven did the same thing for you.
Who Sang the First Song by Ellie Holcomb
This. Book. Y’all. Emery’s wonderful, book-loving aunt gave him this gem along with the coordinating CD and his own music makers for Christmas. By the final page you’ll be on your feet clapping and shouting, “Preach it, girl!”
Singer, songwriter and author, Ellie Holcomb, was inspired by one of the many questions her daughter asked throughout the day. “Mom, who sang the first song?”
Honestly, that question had never crossed my mind – but as soon as I saw the book title I began to wonder myself! Thankfully, Ellie set out to learn the biblical truth to the sweet question and wrote the answer into a beautiful song. The book takes you through the creation story before arriving at the answer and leaving us with these words:
“So I want you to sing with your life and your voice, for I created the earth to make a joyful noise.”
Does that light the fire inside you and make you want to sing?!
We were made to worship and we were made to share the good news! Every time we use our gifts or decide to share our story to help others, we are adding to that “joyful noise.”
Start singing!
Know it by heart
I joke about reciting these children’s books cover to cover, but there’s a deeper realization behind the “skill”: It’s not really a skill.
The memorization came with repetition.
Every day, two to three times a day, these words entered my ears. And with time, they made themselves at home. The things that we hear over and over again are the things that stick.
So what are you telling yourself every day? What words are you hearing on a daily basis?
Tell yourself you’re beautiful and worthy of feeling the same joy you create for others. Tell yourself you are capable and that those dreams living in your heart are possible. Most importantly, tell yourself you’re a good mom.
When you repeat those words every day, they’ll find a place in your heart.
And momma, those will become the words that are stuck in your head as you fall asleep.
So I’d love to know – what are the favorite children’s books in your house? Leave a comment and we’ll be sure to check them out!
