Yesterday, LittleFish discovered a book that's been on his shelves for a while. I had originally seen it at Anthropologie, but was unwilling to pay their prices, so I got it off of Amazon. I don't think I ever expected him to like this book so young.

It's called "How to Behave and Why" by Munro Leaf. The book talks about four main things you need to be in order to make good friends and keep them.  You must be Honest, Fair, Strong, and Wise. This darling book was originally printed in the 40s and is by the author of "Ferdinand". There's not a lot of pictures, and they aren't fancy. Mostly they are stick figures. But something about this book has grabbed his attention, and he has been asking us to read it to him. I am SO glad he did!


See, I think I learned something from the book while I read to LittleFish tonight. It wasn't something that I had never heard before, but put into the context of this children's book about teaching little ones how to behave, it really resonated with me.

It was a line about other people having ideas, thoughts, and ways to do things, and that their way can be just as right as yours. It really struck a chord with me, because I know I try to make FishPapa load the dishwasher, do the laundry and clean up just the way I like them done.

But this little kids book just gently reminded me that "I can't always be right no matter who I am" and that I can choose to do things the best of all ways. But that also means I need to watch and take in how others do things. I need to close my mouth (I admittedly talk WAAAAAYYYY too much) and open my ears to hear what others think. I would be a better friend if I can take this to heart. I'll at least try, and read the book to LittleFish as often as he will let me so I will be reminded.