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When I was a kid, probably in pre-k, I loved singing “the wheels on the bus go round and round”… I also enjoyed, “if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!” Then, as I grew older, my repertoire included greats like, “if I were a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning…”, and “color my world…”

This morning I awoke to a mighty colorful world — it was sprinkled with empty bags of chips and tennis shoes left on the floor by teenage boys the night before. As I hopped over debris being careful not to spill my coffee, I had the strangest thought. Actually it was fairly “deep” for someone as silly as me: What would happen if we parents were given a coloring book page the day our child was born? One that showed us what our child would look at age 20 for instance. All we had to do was choose colors, and either stay in the lines with them, or not. But, here is the catch: That is all we get to do. Everything else has already been done. Whatever colors we choose instantly go from the outside page, to the inside of their soul.

So, I opened my laptop and turned a photo of my daughter into a coloring book page. And you know what I discovered as soon as I saw her in black and white just waiting for her mother’s touch? I knew that I would have hoped her page would have come into the world overflowing with experiences, one of those being more instrumental than all the others that she would stand in front of. I would have used every color in the universe to color her world — even the color of empty chip bags, and displaced tennis shoes. I really would have.

Today’s Life Recipe: Coloring your child’s world with celebration makes the happy and you know it wheels keep spinning round and round.

And check out my warm and toasty Portabello Philly! Yummy!