Monday, November 16, 2009

The Mustn'ts

Listen to the Mustn'ts
by Shel Silverstein

Listen to the mustn'ts, child,
Listen to the don'ts
Listen to the shouldn'ts
The impossibles, the won'ts
Listen to the never haves
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child
Anything can be.

I was reading "Where the Sidewalk Ends" with my daughter last night and just loved this poem. It is short and simple, but emphasizes an important point. I think parents are too often told of their children's limitations....that they won't be able to do something because they're too big, too small, too short, too tall, not smart enough, not strong enough, too this or too that. This poem reminds me to ignore the naysayers and to encourage and support my children in achieving whatever it is they want to achieve. As Shel says, "Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." I came across an article this morning that proves this point, yet again.

8 comments:

The Sanchez Family said...

LOVE Silverstein. One of my favorites. I need to get him out again :)!! Thank you for this perfect reminder!

Emily said...

LOVE it!

The Paskins Family said...

Thanks for sharing! This is great! I hope you're well!

Monica Crumley said...

Love that. Silverstein is so amazing. Anna used to read his poetry to me and I loved it.

Unknown said...

I love Silverstein! What a great poem :-) thanks for sharing!

Kerri Tabasky said...

I love it!!! Sorry it's taken me so long to get to reading this... I plan to go back and start from the beginning.

Anonymous said...

Love this- I will have to get ours out as well- I hope we have it- I can't remember it might be A light in the Attic instead.... I might have to post this one one friday though- it's so good!

Cheri said...

Love it!!!! I have the book on the shelf, I'll look the poem up and think of you when we read it....thanks for sharing