The "WHY" behind PRICKLE STICK: a story about life’s ups AND downs”
My daughter came home from school, “MOM, MOM!! My thorn today was that I couldn’t find anyone to play with me, but my ROSE was that my sister let me play with her and her friends during recess!!”
Roses AND thorns.
I was amazed - my 6 year old had identified a hardship and a breakthrough and connected them in one sentence.
Life is FULL of ups AND downs, but seems like we have value and language for the good times, but the down times, the difficulties, they are best avoided and treated like anomalies, accidents.
But what if the thorn needs the rose as much as the rose needs the thorn?
I asked my daughter what book or song she’d heard from her teacher in order to learn this lesson. There was no book or song.
But the lesson was so powerful, it needed to be written.
So I did it.
I wrote a story and tried to illustrate it. It was awful. Ugly. Terrible.
I didn’t have the technology or the skill to create a beautiful book.
But it made me laugh because, well.. Roses AND Thorns! Life is full of BOTH! I was living it: excitement of an idea, the disappointment of not being able to get it done the way I wanted.
And so I went on a journey, learning and asking for help. My sister drew a couple of illustrations for me, but didn’t have the time to commit to my project. So armed with a beautiful “Rose” and a silly “Bean” I went on a quest to learn how to write, illustrate, and publish a book.
I paid money to people who didn’t help me.
I learned how to ask for my money back.
I got scammed a few times. Some things on the internet ARE too good to be true.
It was up and down. It was hard to get discouraged though because the message of the book was that life was FULL of ups and downs and BOTH make life complete!
Life is 50/50. Good. Hard. Fun. Disappointing. Exciting. Discouraging.
It’s all in there. THIS IS NORMAL.
Facebook and Instagram help us paint pictures of a life that is all good, all fun, all exciting. But it’s not real. It’s a scam we have create for ourselves and then we believe it!
We’re so funny some times.
And here’s what I’ve discovered since writing this book and watching hundreds of kids complete the “Roses & Thorns” activity - most kids highs and lows, their roses and thorns, are connected. They’re not doing it on purpose, but it shows up time after time:
I’m so excited we got a puppy.
My puppy keeps me up at night.
I’m frustrated with COVID and that my parents can’t work and I can’t go to school.
I’m so happy to be spending more time with my family.
I love my new kitten.
She scratched me.
Without meaning to, our kids are showing us the connection. LIFE IS BOTH. Roses AND Thorns. Ups AND downs.
“Prickle Stick: a story about life’s ups AND downs” is just a fun conversations starter to help kids make this connection and feel NORMAL when things don’t go according to plan.
Sometimes expectations are everything.
If we can help our kids with those expectations, then real life events don’t devastate them completely. They can actually become moments to learn from and grow through.
If you or your kid believes that life should always be happy and easy and if it’s not, then you’re doing something wrong, well - “PRICKLE STICK: a story about life’s ups AND downs” is there to make you laugh and let you know that UPS AND DOWNS are normal and important!
You can buy the PRICKLE STICK CLASS PACK which includes the paperback book, lyric video, song, Audio book, Video book with a lesson, PDF Lesson plans, and more. CLICK HERE!
If you JUST want the book (which includes a FREE SONG - check the last page) GET IT HERE!
Here’s to great conversations between you and the kids you love and help for hard times. You'll GROW TOGETHER from the INSIDE out.