I haven’t been this excited since my Mum bought me a Cindy doll in 1988.

Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are is my favourite book of all time.  My Granddad bought me it when I was five years old, and a few months later I had listened to the story so many times that I could retell it word for word.  I made boats out of cardboard boxes and bed sheets, and pretended to sail away to the land in the story.

The book tells a tale of a little boy called Max, who’s mother calls him a Wild Thing.  His bedroom turns into a jungle, and he sails away across the sea to the Land of the Wild Things.  The Wild Things make him their king, but he misses home and sails back to his mother, where his supper is waiting for him.

Every class of children I’ve had have been told this story.  We’ve talked about our own families and about whether we’d like to go and visit the Land of the Wild Things.  Then we’ve made boats out of cardboard boxes and bed sheets, and ‘rowed’ across the ’sea’ to the other edge of the classroom, where vines hang and children in masks pretend to be Wild.

Needless to say, most of the children I’ve taught have grown to love this book as much as I have.  And I can’t express how excited I am about the movie.  Not because I think it will be better than the book, but because it will open the minds of children (and grown-ups) who don’t yet know the story.

The movie is out in October this year.  Do me a favour, and try watch it through the eyes of a child.  You never know, you might learn something about yourself.

Click here to view the movie trailer.

A frumpy old woman pinned me into a bridesmaid dress that was made out of what I can only describe as scratchy, crappy, cheap material.

She said I looked beautiful, but we both knew I actually looked ridiculous.

When the Fiance had said, “I don’t want anyone to look prettier than me!”, she wasn’t kidding, and she was going all out to make sure no one did.

I felt like I’d borrowed my mum’s dressing up clothes, and I looked like I had, too.

I was the only bridesmaid who had boobs that didn’t resemble fried eggs, and so, unfortunately, the strapless dresses the Fiancé had chosen weren’t going to exactly work for me (something which had, perhaps, been intentional..).

And whilst the frumpy old woman pinned straps onto my strapless dress, I had a revelation.

It took me a little too long to realise.
- But I got there in the end.

Some people are too special to let slip away.
Some friendships are too precious to let fade.

We will fix this.  Because, I belong arm in arm with you, dickhead.

This site contains a (strangely, horizontal..) list of polaroid pictures of real people, each with a caption that states what that person would like to do before they die.

Here are some of my favourites polaroids from the site..

What do you want to do before you die?

My answer is below. :-)

Muhammad Ali said that children make you want to start life over. That quote sums up exactly how I feel about my new job.. It was a chance to start over, and I certainly feel as though I have and I do, every single day.

I get up at 6am every morning to be greeted with cuddles and kisses, instead of deadlines and meeting schedules. For the first time in over eight years, I eat breakfast, I smoke less, and I haven’t had a drink in over a month.

I’ve made more than a few sacrifices to get here. But there is nothing I miss. Nothing I regret about making this decision.

- There are twenty two reasons why, that greet me every morning with smiling faces, and the question,

What are we going to do today?

I think the most beautiful thing about children is the innocence that allows them to greet each new day with excitement and hope. The answer to their question?

We can do, make, be, absolutely anything we want to.

Every child in that classroom believes in that statement, and in me.
And so do I.