Sunny Days

Friday night I was invited to have dinner with Carole Hart because it has become clear I have a slight obsession with the book she co-created, Free To Be You and Me. The 35th Anniversary Edition has new artwork by local artist and children's book author Peter H. Reynolds and he graciously invited me to join them at a local Japanese restaurant. I promised not to break into any Free to Be songs.



She told the story of how Marlo Thomas brought her a set of tales to counter the traditional ones currently read to children. She encouraged Marlo to find stories that were even more challenging to the stereotypes of the day - that girls had to be pretty and boys couldn't cry. That only girls played with dolls and couldn't be athletic.



But what made me nearly fall over was hearing her talk about starting Sesame Street. She was one of the original writers for the show and won an Emmy in 1970. This woman, and her late husband who wrote the lyrics for the Sesame Street theme song, had an incredible impact on my life and those of millions of children. I was sitting across a sushi boat with a woman who has truly made a difference in the world.



And it took all my power not to cry.

Sunny days
Sweeping the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street?

How do you handle meeting an icon?

Free to Be - My Daughter and Me

One of the messages of Free to Be You and Me is just that, we are free to be who we are. In the book girls can be athletes, doctors and eaten by lions. Really. If you don't know the book, you are missing a key story line.

The girl eaten by the lions is a girlie girl - always wearing dresses and shiny Mary Jane shoes. She insists that girls should always go first. "Ladies First! Ladies First!" she declares as the lions are deciding who to eat first. They oblige her request. And end up wearing her dress. And her shoes.

So it is a bit mystifying how my 4-year-old daughter turned into a girlie girl. I don't wear make-up, can't be bothered with heels higher than an inch and don't always wear twirly skirts. My daughter plans her princess outfit the night before, talks non-stop about her boyfriends, and wouldn't play with a soccer ball unless it was pink.

How did I make this child?

But I was reassured when she announced over the weekend her following life ambition -

"When I am a mommy I am going to wear a jog bra, shorts and sneakers and run marathons."

You go girl. And I hope that jog bra is bright pink - or whatever color you love.

Just make sure you run from the lions. I don't want them wearing your jog bra.

What do you think I am? A loaf of bread?

When I was a little girl, and my brother was an even little-er boy, we got a hold of my mom's hand held tape recorder, sat down with a purple book (Free to Be You and Me) and recorded our own version of "Boy meets Girl" - the touching story of a boy baby and a girl baby meeting for the first time in the hospital nursery. Some of my favorite lines include:

"Hi!" says deeper voice (sounding suspiciously like Mel Brooks).

"Hi!" says higher voice (sounding an awful lot like Marlo Thomas).

"I'm a baby!" says lower voice.

"Well what do you think I am?" asks the higher voice. "A loaf of bread?"

"You could be. What do I know? I was just born".

But the part that made my brother just giggle uncontrollably in the tape?

The higher voice asks "What do I look like?"

And the lower voice says "You're bald fella'. Bald. Bald. Bald. Bald as a ping-pong ball!"

See here for yourself.

And guess what? For those of you who live near Boston, there will be a Free To Be You and Me party from at the The Blue Bunny Bookshop in Dedham Square, MA on Saturday, October 18th from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. This is a book release party (the new book includes a music CD) and book signing to celebrate the 35th anniversary edition.

Take my hand, come with me

There's a land that I see where the children are free
And I say it ain't far to this land from where we are
Take my hand, come with me, where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll live

The purple book with the big cartoon letter was heavy in my hands. There were cartoon children crawling all over the title of the book. Free to Be You and Me.

In a land where the river runs free
In a land through the green country
In a land to a shining sea
And you and me are free to be you and me

I see a land bright and clear, and the time's comin' near
When we'll live in this land, you and me, hand in hand
Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song
Come along, take my hand, sing a song

My parents completely bought into the message promoted by the authors, Marlo Thomas and Carol Hart, that children needed more stories that celebrated the differences in all of us. That celebrated the whole child, not the stereotypes. That had a popular football player sing "It's alright to cry" or a story about a boy who wanted a doll. That talked about parents as people.

For a land where the river runs free
For a land through the green country
For a land to a shining sea
For a land where the horses run free
And you and me are free to be you and me

Every boy in this land grows to be his own man
In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman
Take my hand, come with me where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll run

My brother and I make a tape recording of our favorite story, two babies meeting each other in the hospital. Marlo Thomas and Mel Brooks recorded it on the album I had (along with the book). My brother and I did a better job.

To a land where the river runs free
To a land through the green country
To a land to a shining sea
To a land where the horses run free
To a land where the children are free
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be you and me

What's your favorite Free to Be moment or memory? Don't worry, I'll be doing this all week so feel free to let me know another day....

Everything is packed

The clan hasn't been on a trip in a while. A whole 38 days since we returned from our summer vacation in another part of the country.

Now we are off. On a plane. To a different time zone.

The bags are packed. The Elvis lyrics are printed out (just wait till you hear about the latest convert to all things Elvis). We've survived daily (hourly?) qestions of "today? today?" for the last two weeks. Ballet clothes and piano music is packed (you never know when you will be able to practice). Running gear is all clean and ready to be put to the test.

We are going to the Windy City.

But I won't be sharing the exploits from that trip for a little while because every day next week I will be celebrating all things Free to Be You and Me. I hope you will come with me....