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You are here: Home / All / How I Accidentally Found a Way to Help Parents and Children

How I Accidentally Found a Way to Help Parents and Children

May 18, 2020 by Janice Beetle 9 Comments

I’ve always been a big believer in the idea that things happen for a reason. And if we are tapped into our hearts and paying attention, we can pair what we’re noticing with our own intuition and take new steps—or big leaps.

I’ve reinvented myself many times in this way—sometimes, accidentally; other times, intentionally.

Here’s the most recent set of events that is accidentally leading me somewhere super cool.

My daughter Sally gave birth 12 weeks premature to my first granddaughter, Phoibe, who weighed in at just over a pound when she was born—and is now four pounds and going strong! 

Because of the coronavirus, I can’t visit Phoibe. I can only watch her on a webcam I call Phoibe TV.

I recalled that Jacques’ two sons were also born premature. He’d once told me he read to them in utero. The first time Jacques visited the NICU, he heard his children wailing as he walked down the hall. When he entered the room, he said, “Hi boys,” and they stopped crying.

The recollection gave me the idea to record myself reading to Phoibe. I wanted her to begin to connect with me, get to know my voice, too.

I started reading every picture book I owned, taping myself with the VoiceMemos app on my phone. Books by Dr. Seuss. Books about Little Critter and Amelia Bedelia. Frog and Toad. I read one each morning and sent it in a group text to Sally, my daughter Molly—who has also been reading to Phoibe daily—my grandson Eli (who has not been listening because he’s almost 12, and he’s too cool), and my son-in-law Tommy. Sally and Tommy alternate daily visits to Phoibe, and they play Molly’s and my recordings.

When the stay-at-home order was extended by the Massachusetts governor about a month ago, and it was determined there would be no more school until the end of the year, and no more day care until the end of June, I got to wondering how I might help parents at home by providing some relief with their children. I thought, “Oh! I’ll upload all those recordings to my website, so any child who wants to can listen.” Thankfully, I remembered there is such a thing as copyright laws. 

“So, what can I do?” I wondered again. 

Then, I remembered all the little poems I wrote when Sally and Molly were growing up. Fancying myself a bit of a Shel Silverstein, I wrote all kinds of ditties as birthday and holiday gifts. I crashed around the house, opening closets and drawers, finding a few but not all of them. My sister-in-law, who lives in the same neighborhood in New Hampshire where Jacques and I own a home, walked over and peeked in the totes in our attic, finding them. 

My long-ago intern, Shannon Grossman, who has worked with me ever since she graduated from Westfield State, drove to retrieve them and type them, and she emailed them to me.

While I waited for Shannon to get the bulk of the work to me, I tested out the poems I had in hand by sending them to the tweenage Eli for his feedback. His rulings:

Yes, I would listen to these. I would listen to all of them, except for “Cluck, Cluck.” That one gets weird at the end. I liked how they were not too short and not too long, and how they were funny. I think you should talk a little more about your writing background. I think having an activity gives kids something fun and constructive to do.

Beautiful. I was impressed by how thorough he was—and I should admit here that I paid him for this task and told him I wouldn’t fork out the money if he was not thorough and honest.

I sent the same poems—sans “Cluck, Cluck”—to Eli’s brother, my stepgrandson, Darrian, who is a talented artist. I asked Darrian to illustrate the poems, and he came back with the most adorable drawings.

During summer vacation, I will upload my poems on my site, one a day; I’m not sure yet how many days’ worth I will have; I just got them yesterday morning from Shannon and have some work to do! 

I will read the poems and offer an activity to go with each one. I’m calling them Poem Pods, and I’m pretty excited about them! 

I’m also compiling my favorites into a children’s book, which Darrian will illustrate.

Please stay tuned. I’d love it if you started to spread the word. Consider sharing this blog and the links to the pods when I post them. 

Help me entertain little children in this time when I am so worried about them!

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Filed Under: All, Books, Business, Inspiration Tagged With: children, Children's Literature, COVID-19, grandchild, poems, reading, writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathleen Lutz says

    May 18, 2020 at 11:58 am

    This sounds amazing, Janice! You are so creative – and innovative! I recommended my daughter-in-law to read your post. She has my 2 beautiful grandchildren at home all day every day (Evie will be 4 in August and Tommy was 1 year this past NY Eve). That was a dream of mine years ago – to write children’s poems. Good for you!!

    Reply
    • Janice Beetle says

      May 18, 2020 at 3:13 pm

      Oh, thank you so much! I really appreciate your sharing the post. You can still have your dream! Write poems for your grandchildren! Please tell your daughter-in-law that if she signs up for my blog, she will receive an email notification when the pods start to post. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Kathleen Lutz says

        May 18, 2020 at 6:52 pm

        I will!!

        Reply
  2. Kristi A Bodin says

    May 18, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    What an amazing creative inspiration! This is so great.

    Reply
    • Janice Beetle says

      May 18, 2020 at 3:11 pm

      Thank you, Kristi. I so appreciate you reading!

      Reply
  3. Sarah Murphy says

    May 19, 2020 at 12:03 am

    So amazing Janice! What a great idea. I can’t wait to read them❤️

    Reply
    • Janice Beetle says

      May 20, 2020 at 8:12 am

      Thanks, Sarah! I can’t wait to share them!

      Reply
  4. Mary Zajac says

    May 19, 2020 at 12:20 pm

    Love this!! Before our son was born (in 1983), we played Barry Manilow records and cassettes for him in addition to talking to him.

    Some children’s fairy tales are so old, the copyright has expired. You can check Gutenberg.org to see which books are copyright free.

    Stay well!

    Mary

    PS I am smiling under my mask too!

    Reply
    • Janice Beetle says

      May 20, 2020 at 8:12 am

      Thank you for being such an engaged reader! I love that anecdote, and a great tip too! Thank you, you smiler, you!

      Reply

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