Once Upon a Child's Heart

Chapter 5:   The Baker’s Windows by Kristen S. Sandoz  2013 Tonight our story returns to Copper and Justly.   After Justly saved Copper from an untimely death he had to find a new place to sleep at night. Before Copper Justly slept under the outdoor oven at the Baker’s complex.   It was such a warm and dry place to nestle into, even on the coldest and wettest nights.   This clay oven was stoked every day for the baking of the finest breads in the entire kingdom (so the Baker thought) and it would therefore emit warmth long into the night.   Justly received the privilege of sleeping under the oven by cleaning the windows of the Baker’s shop.   I know you think that I am making a mistake, but I am not!   Despite being blind Justly had an excellent reputation for window washing.   How did he do it, you ask?   Well, let me tell you his secret for it is one all of us would do well to know.     Every month Justly pre...

Sleep is a problem in our house.   First, Thing 3, now a year old, wakes anywhere from four to six times a night to nurse.   Thing 1 will lay awake until 10 pm waiting for his Melatonin to kick in.     My dear sweet husband often doesn’t fall asleep until 2 am thanks to a crazy work schedule, restless leg issues, and the failure of his Melatonin to do its job.   Finally, Thing 2 wakes frequently with nightmares.   All of their sleep problems become my sleep problems.   Nice. Out of sheer desperation I recently bought an Ebook titled Ready,Set, Sleep by Malia Jacobson .   It was only $10 so I thought I had nothing to lose buying a self-published book.   I was drawn to the book because of Jacobson’s statement “that parents are regularly given outdated sleep advice laden with value judgments instead of simple, fact-based tactics that work”.   That has certainly been my experience.   She went on to say that sleep science is...

Maybe she can?   Maybe she can’t?   That is the question that May B. has to answer for herself while stranded on the Kansas prairie alone and abandoned until Christmas.   Can she grow past her fears and insecurities and find it in herself to overcome? May B. A Novel by Caroline Starr Rose is a true healing story.   Its raw, awkward, and uncomfortable rhythm mimics the main character. Yet the more I read it to my boys the more freely the words ebbed and flowed from me.     Just like the Kansas prairie in the 1870’s this story is sparse and simple requiring commitment to get past the first half of the book before the reward of hard work and a good story pulls you in.   The beauty of this book is the way Rose develops May B. throughout the story mirroring her internal struggle to read with her external struggle to survive.   Sometimes a bad situation often does make a person better.   This story offered me and my boys plenty of oppo...