Why the yellow hat, Mom?
The man with the yellow hat in the Curious George series fascinates me. Adventure after adventure, the man creates opportunities that George uses to exercise the full extent of his curiosity, but just in time to avert disaster, the man with the yellow hat steps in to smooth things over and to redirect George’s interest. You would think after so many predicaments, he would find some way to stop George–essentially, to stifle him. But he never does. For good or ill, George is always very curious, and the man with the yellow hat is always there to help George learn from the experience.
To a certain extent, this is what I aspire to as a parent. Now, I would hardly leave my children in a situation where they would be dangling from a bouquet of balloons over the city or washing the windows on a skyscraper; however, I do think that it’s my responsibility to provide plenty of situations for my children to get into and out of mischief… safely. Between trips to museums and nature centers, libraries and parks, I hope that my little monkeys will develop curiosity and wonder as life-long skills, and this blog charts my attempts to make that happen.
Importantly, the man in the yellow hat learns along with George. Each new adventure opens up a new world that he would never have experienced without his monkey friend. It isn’t a one way relationship: George keeps the man with the yellow hat curious and pushes him to see it with new eyes, too. What I love most about being a parent, and what I’d like to share here, is the fresh view of the world that I would never have without my children. I am learning right along with them.
Who are you?
Lisa Rhody lives in Rockville, MD with her husband, two daughters, and their manic-depressive dog. Before trading her fake combat boots and all-black clothing in for “the mom-hoodie” and jeans, she earned a master’s degree in English language and literature. She also taught freshman composition and literature courses and managed a scholarly website on British Romanticism at the University of Maryland. When she isn’t leading expeditions to museums or the creek or the Safeway, Lisa can sometimes be found writing a dissertation on women’s poetry about paintings.