Mom didn’t read Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” to us because she thought the monsters might be scary and she was probably right.   But it’s in regular rotation for reading time with Angus.  I just love it, probably more than him, thanks to the monsters.  I love the language and that one “in and out of weeks” bit that goes on forever because I respect the run-on sentence and I too sometimes lose the period on the keyboard. 

Also, because I think it’s a great book about holding onto your power.  There’s that part where Max has had a blast with the Wild Things.  They’ve swung through trees and howled at the moon and done all the things that you do when you’re wild and then he decides it’s time to go. 

And the Wild Things say, “Please don’t go!  We’ll eat you up we love you so!” and Max said, “No”. 

I’ve been talking about the just saying “no” part with a friend who’s having some issues with her friends.  Like saying “no” even if it means being willing to let go of the friendship because you don’t know how the person will react. 

Or even when you think, “heck I could just keep my mouth shut and ignore this *again*”.  But there’s a part of you like Max that just puts up your hand and says, “nuh-uh, I’m so done”.  

Max has got it down.  He doesn’t talk about his feelings, or justify his no because he’s not convinced himself or go on and on about the pain of his childhood.  He just says “no” and gets in his boat.  Because at some point it’s just time to go.  It’s time to eat dinner.  And when you do the right thing like that for yourself, you know dinner will always be hot.