How much did you love the book, Where the Wild Things Are when you were little? If you ever made mischief of one kind or another, I bet you loved it as much as I did. Writing about the dark side of childhood takes courage and sensitivity and author Maurice Sendak, who died today, was a pro.
Being a kid isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It isn't fun always being told what to do, and how and when to do it. Kids get angry; sometimes that isn't a bad thing. I think that is why Where the Wild Things Are captured the imaginations of so many generations of kids. Max is every kid. No, Max is every kid only more badass. Max is for children what Holden Caulfield is for adolescents; he stands up for kids in a world ruled by boring adults. He has his imagination and parents can't take that away with rules and time outs.
When Violet is acting particularly Max-ishly I will try to remember what it is like to be a kid. I just hope that when she gets to where the wild things are she is reminded of home and makes it back while dinner is still hot. I also hope that no matter how many time outs she has and no matter how many "privileges" she loses, she keeps a little of her Max-ish spunk and a lot of her Max-ish imagination.
Read Where the Wild Things Are today if you can get your paws on it.
xo
Em
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