A Dr. Seuss Lesson

I taught a lesson today that involved learning about allegory through Dr. Seuss' The Butter Battle Book and it got me thinking about how much I love Dr. Seuss. Not only are his books nearly synonymous with childhood reading, but they are smart, remarkably allegorical, as in The Butter Battle Book, and teach valuable life lessons. Love...

Someday, I definitely need to go to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Incidentally, this museum is very close to where I grew up making it even more probable that I will actually get there. Besides, who can resist frolicking among beloved childhood characters?! Speaking of,  I will have to drag my sister there as she is a huge Dr. Seuss fan.  We used to get in "arguments" every year at Christmas (and by "used to" I mean we still do) about these two (hideous) Dr. Seuss ornaments...

I am a girl who likes a coordinated Christmas tree. While some people think that kitschy, mismatched ornaments are cute, or that popsicle stick sleighs are enchanting, I admittedly am not that type of person. I like order by way of monochromatic colored ornaments and white lights.  Oddly, this is pretty much the only thing that I am Type A about in my life.  Closets be damned...give me an orderly Christmas tree!  For this reason, the large, brightly colored, stuffed animal "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" are just not for me.  My sister, who shares a similar passion for messy, disorganized closets, does not share my love of singularly colored, white-lighted Christmas trees.  Every year the feud continues as she prominently places "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" on the tree and I, ever so sneakily, remove them.  This goes on, back and forth until Christmas morning, when usually some sentimentality, or laziness leaves them in the last played position. Dr. Seuss, with his message of getting along, working things out, and resolving things nicely would probably not approve...