I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-am!

I could not, would not, in a house.

I would not, could not, with a mouse.

I would not eat them with a fox.

I would not eat them in a box.

I would not eat them here or there.

I would not eat them anywhere.

I would not eat green eggs and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Green Eggs and Ham (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books)

Okay, so the school year isn't going so well.  Sam-I-am doesn't like school...and isn't really willing to abide by any of the rules therein.  I keep hoping he will be like the un-named hero above, who eventually gives in, tries the eggs, and loves them.

How often are we absolutely terrified of the things we don't know?  Overwhelmed by all that is unknown and new?  Peering through the veil, we imagine horrors unknown, because nothing could possibly be as comfortable as what we know.  And there must be something in that veil that resembles one of those mirrors in the fun house, because the unknown "new" takes on proportions that couldn't possibly be real in the light of sanity.  The shadows are out of proportion until they threaten to overtake us and swallow us whole, and the light seems to exist solely as a vestige of illumination.

Yeah.  Well, is it ever really that bad?  Sometimes we get ourselves all worked up and afraid...and for absolutely nothing.  Many times the new turns up being better.  I tried to tell Sam today at lunch that there were all kinds of great things to learn in school...and remember how he couldn't read before kindergarten, and now that he was in second grade he could read great?  Just imagine what was to come! (He looked at me like I was speaking Greek, so I guess they haven't gotten to that language yet.)  I looked through his workbook on back-to-school night and discovered they were going to learn cursive - and I didn't learn it til third grade, so I told him about that to get him excited, to which he replied, (with eye roll), "I know, Mom."

I so far have resisted shoving the green eggs and ham down his throat, but I am not above hiding them in a casserole.