Friday Friend: Seeker of Happiness, She's So Darling!

via Carrie's pinterest

I'm so excited Carrie is here at wise owl baby today! I didn't want to interrupt her beautiful post once you start the pleasure of reading it, so here are a few of my favorite posts of hers I wanted to make sure you checked out: book clock tutorial, lavender cookies, and cheap date ideas.

I am THRILLED to be guest posting here- albeit a little intimidated by Anna's mad writing skills. I'm Carrie from Seeker of Happiness. I'm also Anna's cousin. Correction: Anna's slacker cousin who was asked MONTHS ago to do a guest post for her awesome blog and kept saying: "I'll do that today" and never did. I could try and blame the fact that my 5 week old baby was born unexpectedly early, but she asked me way before that. She even gave me a list of things I could talk about if I couldn't think of anything. I have no excuses for how long this post has taken me to put together.

But the point is not that.

The point is books. Children's books.

When I think children's books, I think of a lot. I think of the Precious Moments bedtime story book and all the little lessons I loved to learn and relearn from it. I think of Amelia Bedilia and the beginning of my love for puns. I think of The Giving Tree, Frog and Toad, and the Little Engine that Could. And while I have started and restarted post after post about these books, there is really just one children's book that sticks out in my mind.

Peter and Wendy by Sir James Matthew Barrie

Peter Pan was originally a play written in 1904. Though it's meant for the stage, reading it is still a delight. The stage directions really give you insight into the emotion- not just "crosses stage left" and that.

Anyway, in 1911 Sir Barrie adapted it into a novel titled Peter and Wendy and it is this book that has affected the way I have lived my childhood, come to grips with growing up, and the kind of mother I am today and want to be.

You see, every child, except one, must grow up. And while this is a sad concept, we all have to do it. But what MATTERS is not our age nor our maturity, but instead, our tolerance for the young and the innocent.

Through the novel, we watch Wendy grow up. We watch her struggle with it, and ultimately accept it. Most of my life, I have felt like Wendy. I have related to her the most. The heart-broken little girl that wants so badly to be loved by the boy who can never love her back. The imaginative child who finds romance and delight in playing house and mermaids. The Darling daughter who wants to be just like her mother.

Over the years, as I have done my own growing up, I have found that I relate more and more to Mrs. Darling- a character I have always wanted to become. I can't describe this as I am in the thick of this stage of life right now- but read the book and you will understand.

Did I get too personal here? I hope not. I just love this book so much. And maybe you're not into all of the "how does this kid's book relate to my life" stuff. To you, I say read it for the pirates. Read it for the fairies. Read it for the lost boys and the Indians and adventures and the mischief.

Allow yourself to go back to the reality of Neverland.

I'll meet you there.