Today, I listened as a harried mother described the craziness of her last week. At one point, she described a task that I know was initially intended to be fun, as one more thing to check off her list.

Tonight, as I sat reading Poppleton In Spring with my girls, one of many tales of about our favorite literary pig, created by our current favorite author, Cynthia Rylant, I wished that this mom was reading with me too. In the story, much to his friend’s chagrin, Poppleton decides to spend the night in a tent in his backyard. The best part of the story reads, “He carried all of his quilts out to the tent. He had a flashlight and a pillow and some good books. And long after everyone else was asleep, Poppleton was still up. Sometimes he was reading. Sometimes he was thinking. And sometimes he was just paying attention. Poppleton loved spring at night. In the morning, he went back into his house. He had a cup of cocoa and some buttered toast. Then he went to find Cherry Sue. He showed her the new flower that had opened up while she was sleeping and he was paying attention.”