Thank you, Eric Carle.

You've probably heard of, if not read, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle. There's a line at the end that says something like, "He wasn't a little caterpillar anymore...He was a big fat caterpillar." We like to read this part with emphasis..."He was a BIG, FAT caterpillar!"

Well, my kids love to hear stories about "When mommy was a little girl" and "When daddy was a little boy." It's one of our bedtime rituals, we tell them little stories about when we were kids - stories based on little memories like "Mommy and Uncle Eric would catch fireflies in the back yard." But I find that even these little snippets of memory can become interesting enough stories for 2 1/2 year olds.

Eden almost always ends these stories with, "And Mommy grew and grew and grew until she wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a BIG FAT Mommy!"

Thank you, Eric Carle, thank you.