Hip Hop Speaks to Children

Hip Hop Speaks to Children, is a great book to help celebrate, not just Black History month, but also the arts, poetry and reading.  It has different songs and poems that you can also listen to, with the audio CD that comes with the book.  I often play it when my daughter is doing crafts or just hanging around the house.  She loves it! It makes her move and groove and encourages her to practice rhyming words.  It's also a fun way for kids to learn about some amazing black artists.  For example, there are poems and songs by everyone from Maya Angelou, Tupac shakur, Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and Martin Luther King Jr.  I bought my copy at a wonderful book store, that I buy most of my daughters books from.  They have an amazing, diverse, and inclusive collection of children's books. Here's a link to their site :)
http://www.anotherstory.ca/

Books Books and more Books

One of my best friends gave my daughter a book called Giraffes Can't dance, by Giles Andrede and Guy Parker-Rees. My daughter loves it. I read it to her and two little girls I take care of every week. They think its funny and the message it gives is a great one. It sends a positive message about being an individual. It's ok to be different, you just need to find out who you are and be comfortable in your own skin. It's one of my favourite children's books, one I plan to pass on and I hope you will too!

Enjoy!

A Book For My LADIES!

Dearest Clarity,

I was given this book about a year ago, and it really made me look at myself and understand why my relationships have turned out the way they have, and why I have attracted all the wrong guys. I recently gave it to a friend to read and she read it within a few days. She was messaging me a few times a day FREAKING out because she couldn't believe how much she could relate. I'm so happy I passed it on to her, and that it has helped her like it did me. It will bring up a lot and can be a bit emotional and draining but in the end you will feel so happy you read it. It will help give you clarity and inspire you to change your love habits for the better. So if you find you always meet the wrong guys, have relationships full of drama and unhealthy emotions and feelings, this book is for you! I encourage all you ladies out there to give it a try, I guarantee you will get something out of it. All the books I've read that have changed my life I call my Bible's, and this is one of them! I'm thankful it was given to me and I hope it gives to you like it did to me. Happy Reading!

BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT!

Dearest Clarity,
The other day I bought my daughter a book about all different types of families. I got her this book to show her that she is not the only one without a dad. Some kids only have a dad and no mom and some have two moms or two dad's, and on and on. It is an amazing book that I highly recommend. It's called Who's in a Family, by Robert Such. I got it at an amazing book store called Another Story Bookshop at 315 Roncesvalles. They have an amazing selection of books for kids to help them deal with so many different issues.

When I got home I read this book to my daughter and explained what it meant. We had a great discussion about different families and she seemed to really enjoy knowing that, and looking at the pictures of them. At the back of the book there is a page that gives your child an opportunity to draw their family, and the people who take care of them. My daughter grabbed her markers and started drawing. She finished and said "look mommy, I'm done". I looked up and saw that she drew a picture of her father and his mother, her grandmother. Well I just stared at it and the anger just took over my body, I was sweating and ready to have a full out raging fit. Instead I took a deep breath and walked away. I had to breathe and centre myself, to get back to the reality of the situation. She is only four and I know she loves me and is grateful for me. I also started realizing that she drew that because that is her greatest desire, I had to look at it from her perspective. I walked back in the room and said those pictures are great but here is another piece of paper, now let's draw what the book was talking about. So together we drew and coloured her family, the people who take care of her. I didn't want to say she couldn't draw them because she can and they are her family, but I also thought it was important that she is in reality, a lot of kids in these situations can stay in a fantasy world and I think it is important to let them have there thoughts and dreams, but to also support them in what is the truth.

I am telling this story to show that not reacting from our anger and rage is so important. There are gonna be many more situations where this sort of thing is gonna come up, but as examples to our children we need to walk away and just breathe in and breathe out. Go back when your ready and deal with it. If we don't and we react right away, that is when we are gonna make the mistake of bashing the absent parent or saying hurtful things to them. It's not their fault so they don't deserve that. I am a big believer in not bashing the other parent, you need to be honest but in a respectful way. If you don't it will do nothing but hurt them and teach them that it is ok to react that way when your angry, and that talking about people like that is ok and it is not. So next time you are in this situation, I ask you to walk away and BREATHE IN and BREATHE OUT!