Once Upon a Child's Heart

Ch 6: Justly’s New Bed By Kristen S. Sandoz 2013   You might remember that I had started to tell you that after Justly took Copper into his care he had to find a new bed to sleep in at night.   Copper was not allowed inside the city gates any longer. He was an Outcaster.   On their first evening as Outcasters Justly came across the little cottage of the Witch Hazel.   Justly could smell the musky scent of oak burning on a hearth.   He followed his nose and carried his new pup to the base of a large walnut tree on the edge of the meadow where the cottage was nestled.      Justly was tired and needed rest.   You can imagine it is hard work carrying a pup through a forest when you are blind.   He had stumbled over a root at the base of this massive tree and decided it was as good a place as any to rest for the night.   He snuggled into a perfect wedge at the base of the walnut tree where he was partially protected from the...

Through out the year my boys bring me things they find outside that are interesting to them.  They remind me of how cats bring the entrails of their prey or the bodies of dead snakes and lay them on their owner's porches.  It's so endearing.  My boys bring these offerings of love because they are compelled to have their interests justified by the person who means the most to them.  That person is lucky enough to be me!   I put all of these special little things on the ledge of my kitchen window.  I see them everyday.  Each month the sill fills with more and more fascinating objects.  I LOVE this ledge!  It makes me so happy to look at it.  These are the best gifts my boys could ever give me.  Unfortunately, my window ledge is only so big and pretty much every year in order to make more room for the treasures to come I have to clean off the sill and start with a fresh canvas.  This has always made me so sad.  I remem...

"What color of the rainbow do you feel like today?  Why?" "What does someone else have that you want?" "What do you think about when you wake up?" "What silly thing did you do recently?" These are a few of the questions you'll find in one of my new favorite Healing Story games. This post is for my sister-in-law.  She sent me a text asking what games we play at the dinner table because they needed a little something to direct conversation.  This is a must in our house!  If we don't have something ready for the boys to talk about they will choose the topic themselves.  It always goes one of two ways.  Either poop and body parts are the subjects or a not so friendly debate about who's the best.  Neither of these give us a very fine dining experience. To avoid these dinner talks I've learned to come prepared.  Here is one of my latest tools. Q&A a Day for Kids by Betsy Franco is a delightful conversation...