Make Fun Of Life! - Childhood

Welcome To Childhood

6/1/2025

Well, hello there! You have arrived on the Childhood Page of www.MakeFunOfLife.net . . . simply travel down the page to find lovely words and pictures that are just for you . . .

Welcome to a website on which you will find humor, inspiration, and learning in short stories, concise quotations, perky poems, audacious audio, melodious music, and pretty-near-perfect pictures. When you have a moment, be sure to visit the more than 70 other pages on the website, such as the Holidays Pages and the Silly Pages, which can be explored by clicking or tapping on the drop-down menu near the top of this page, or further down this page on the colorful pictures in the right-hand column.

We are MFOL! . . . for children ages 6 to 106 . . .

Childhood And Children

2/26/2025

Picture of happy smiling girls and boys, butterflies, toy balls, and the words, ‘Childhood And Children Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

“Sometimes, you need to talk to a three-year-old so you can understand life again.” -Author Unknown

“Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud-turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to wade in, water-lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hay-fields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries, and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of his education.” -Luther Burbank (1849 - 1926): “Training of the Human Plant” (1907)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Nature and Wildlife” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Children grow faster in the springtime than any other season during the year.

Children have always been around, but the concept of childhood, as we know it now, is a relatively new one in human history. It began in the mid-twentieth century, when childhood was emphasized as an important time to play and imagine. Prior to then, childhood was a period of surviving the harshness of existence long enough to reach young adulthood, with an emphasis on learning skills such as hunting and gathering, or in more complex civilizations, skills needed to earn a living and participate in a society.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read History Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.” -Yoda: in “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones” (16 May 2002)

Children laugh about 400 times a day, while adults laugh on average only 15 times a day. Are children having too much fun - or are adults far too serious?
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Laughter And Laughing” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“There are children playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago.” -J. Robert Oppenheimer (Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904 - 1967))

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” -Kay Renfield Jamison
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Playtime And Playing Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Billy: Can youngsters learn to fly jet airplanes?
Bobby: Yes, but they have to use training wheels!

“As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.” -Buddy Hackett
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Mealtimes and Eating” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” -Cindy, age 8

“Childhood is that time of life when anything is possible.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Impossible And Possible” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“To play freely on this earth is the one privilege nature has given to children. If they are allowed to play, they will grow up to be healthy human beings.” -Kaneko Fumiko, as translated to English by Jean Inglis

“I was forced to live far beyond my years when just a child, now I have reversed the order and I intend to remain young indefinitely.” -Mary Pickford (born Gladys Louise Smith, also known as Gladys Marie Pickford (1893 - 1979)): as quoted in ‘How Mary Pickford Stays Young’ article in “Reader’s Digest,” Volume 5 (1926); condensed from an interview in “Everybody’s Magazine” (28 May 1926)

Picture of a toddler boy playing with a toy helicopter in a green grassy yard, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

“A three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.” -Burton Hillis (pseudonym of William Edward ‘Bill’ Vaughan (1915 - 1977))

“Six-year-old announces plans to become ballerina gymnast veterinarian horseback-riding princess.” -Author Unknown: “The Onion”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Inspiration And Motivation Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Toddler Rules

If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it is food, it must not be tasted.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.

By Author Unknown

“A happy childhood is the best horseshoe nail.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Chance And Luck Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Keeping in touch with childhood memories keeps us believing in life’s simplest pleasures, like a rainy afternoon, a swing-set, and a giant puddle to play in.” -Chrissy Ogden

Love - Laugh - Learn - Liv - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

Wisdom From Children

“Never trust a dog to watch your food.” -Patrick, 10 years of age

“When your dad is mad and asks you, ‘Do I look stupid?’ - don’t answer.” -Hannah, 9 years of age

“Never tell your mom her diet’s not working.” -Michael, 14 years of age

“If life gives you nothing but lemons, make up a better shopping list for it.” -Steven, 8 years of age

“When your Mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.” -Jennifer, 11 years of age

“Never leave your three-year old brother in the same room as your school
assignment.” -Tracy, 14 years of age

“Never hold a hand-held vacuum cleaner and a cat at the same time.” -Katherine, 11 years of age

“You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.” -Aaron, 9 years of age

“If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.” -Nancy, 15 years of age

“Felt-tip markers are not good to use as lipstick.” -Laura, 9 years of age

“When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your Mom when she’s on
the phone.” -Jill, 13 years of age

“Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and the world laughs at you.” -Robert, 8 years of age
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Wisdom And Advice” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Love - Laugh - Learn - Liv - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

“You must never lose that touch of childishness. You need it if you wish to write for children, if you wish to understand the heart of a child. Children are good, you see. And they expect good.” -Carolyn Haywood (1898 - 1990)

“Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity.” -Kathy Williams (1964 - 1996)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Attitudes And Expectations” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“I love child things because there’s so much mystery when you’re a child. When you’re a child, something as simple as a tree doesn’t make sense. You see it in the distance and it looks small, but as you go closer, it seems to grow - you haven’t got a handle on the rules when you’re a child. We think we understand the rules when we become adults but what we really experienced is a narrowing of the imagination.” -David Lynch

Childhood Activities
- Building a fort or treehouse
- Climbing trees
- Dreaming really big
- Going on adventures
- Hunting for bugs
- Jumping in water puddles
- Making mud pies
- Playing with friends
- Playing outside
- Reading great books
- Running barefoot
- Trying new things
- Watching animals
What can you add to this list?

“Simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.” -Author Unknown

Picture of a happy smiling boy and a happy smiling girl jumping for joy, and a pet dog in a toy wagon, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

“Some people seem as if they can never have been children, and others seem as if they could never be anything else.” -George D. Prentice (George Dennison Prentice (1802 - 1870)): “Prenticeana” (1860)

“I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.” -Greg Norman
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Parenthood and Parenting” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called ‘All the Things That Could Go Wrong.’” -Marianne Williamson (born 1952)

Whole Duty of Children

A child should always say what’s true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table;
At least as far as he is able.

By Robert Louis Stevenson (Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850 - 1894)): “A Child’s Garden of Verses” (1885)

“A lot of children think their parents are all-no-ing.” -Author Unknown

“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” [translation to English]
“Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c’est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours leur donner des explications.” [original French]
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry (1900 - 1944)): “Le Petit Prince” (English: “The Little Prince”) (1943) at https://www.antoinedesaintexupery.com/

“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” -Tom Robbins (Thomas Eugene ‘Tom’ Robbins (born 1932)): “Still Life with Woodpecker” (October 1980)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Happiness Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Children are not only innocent and curious but also optimistic and joyful and essentially happy. They are, in short, everything adults wish they could be.” -Carolyn Haywood (1898 - 1990)

“Children see magic because they look for it.” -Christopher Moore
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Magic And Sleight Of Hand Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

This is MFOL! . . . for the child in all of us, who still feels, smells, tastes, hears, and sees the wonder of it all . . .

My Footprints

2/25/2025

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My Footprints

Someday I’ll jump through puddles,
     take a stroll or run a race.
Someday I’ll walk across the street
     or maybe walk in space.
Someday I’ll scale a mountain
     or I’ll join a ballet corps.
Someday I’ll walk a tightrope
     or explore the ocean floor.
Someday these feet will do some things
     that only Heaven knows,
but for today they’re happy,
     just to wiggle all their toes!

By Author Unknown

Halfway Down

2/24/2025

Picture of a child sitting on a stair inside a house, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Halfway Down

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
“It isn’t really
Anywhere!
It’s somewhere else
Instead!”

By A. A. Milne: “When We Were Very Young” (1924), page 81

Alan Alexander Milne, also known as A. A. Milne, was born on 18 January 1882 in Kilburn, London, England. He was married to Daphne de Sélincourt in 1913. Together, the couple had a son named Christopher Robin Milne, who became the character Christopher Robin in Mr. Milne’s books. Alan Alexander Milne became a humorist, a novelist, a playwright, and a poet. He is remembered as the author of the book, “Winnie-the-Pooh” (1926). Alan Alexander Milne passed on at 74 years of age on 31 January 1956 in Hartfield, Sussex, England.

Image shown: Illustration by Ernest Shepard (Ernest Howard Shepard (1879 - 1976)), for the poem, ‘Halfway Down,’ in A. A. Milne: “When We Were Very Young” (1924), poetry collection in book form.

Why God Made Little Girls

2/23/2025

Picture of three girls standing at a table of cake, cupcakes, and cookies, and the words, ‘Why God Made Little Girls Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Why God Made Little Girls

God made the world with its towering trees,
     Majestic mountains and restless seas.
Then stopped and said, “It needs one more thing,
     Someone to laugh and dance and sing.
To walk in the woods and gather flowers,
     To commune with nature in quiet hours.”
So God created little girls.
     With laughing eyes and bouncing curls.
With joyful hearts and infectious smiles,
     Enchanting ways and feminine wiles.
And when He’d completed the task He’d begun,
     He was pleased and proud of the job He’d done.
For the world when seen through a little girl’s eyes,
     Greatly resembles His own paradise.

By Henry Alfred Dixon

Why God Made Little Boys

2/22/2025

Picture of two happy smiling boys swimming in water, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Why God Made Little Boys

God made a world out of His dreams,
     Of magic mountains, oceans and streams,
Prairies and plains and wooded land.
     Then paused and thought,
I need someone to stand on top of the mountains,
     To conquer the seas, explore the plains and climb the trees.
Someone to start out small and grow,
     Sturdy and strong like a tree and so
He created boys, full of spirit and fun
     To explore and conquer, to romp and run
With dirty faces, and banged up chins
     With courageous hearts and boyish grins.
And when He had completed the task He’d begun,
     He surely said, “That’s a job well done.”

By Henry Alfred Dixon

Me

2/21/2025

Picture of an infant girl sitting on a blanket in a grassy area, and the words, ‘Me Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Me

I have 10 little fingers
And 10 little toes,
2 little arms,
And 1 little nose.
1 little mouth,
And 2 little ears,
2 little eyes
For smiles and for tears.
1 little head
And 2 little feet,
1 little chin -
That’s me!
I’m complete.

By Author Unknown

Never Quite Just Right

2/20/2025

Picture of a boy standing on the bank of a river, holding a toy fishing pole with a toy plastic fish on the end of the line and a toy plastic bucket on the ground next to him, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Never Quite Just Right

They say I’m too young,
     to cross the street to play.
That I’m too old to cry,
     when I don’t get my way.

That I am much to big,
     to swing on the garden gate.
But very much too small,
     to stay up after eight.

I’m young, I’m old,
     I’m big, I’m small -
Do you ever think, in age and height,
     I will ever grow to be just right?

By Author Unknown

Every Time I Climb A Tree

2/19/2025

Picture of a child sitting on a branch high up in a tree under a sunny clear blue sky, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Every Time I Climb A Tree

Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
I scrape a leg
Or skin a knee
And every time I climb a tree
I find some ants
Or dodge a bee
And get the ants
All over me.

And every time I clime a tree
Where have you been?
They say to me
But don’t they know that I am free?

I like it best
To spot a nest
That has an egg
Or maybe three.

And then I skin
The other leg
But every time I climb a tree
I see a lot of things to see
Swallows, rooftops, and TV.

And all the fields and farms there be
Every time I climb a tree
Though climbing may be good for ants
It isn’t awfully good for pants
But still it’s pretty good for me
Every time I climb a tree.

By David McCord: “Every Time I Climb a Tree” (June 1967); type of work: collected poems by a single author in book form

David Thompson Watson McCord was born on 15 December 1897 in New York City, New York, United States of America. He became a poet, and was a college fundraiser as the executive director for the Harvard College Fund. Two of his collections of poems in book form are, “The Star in the Pail” (1976) and “One at a Time” (1978). David Thompson Watson McCord passed on at 99 years of age on 13 April 1997 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Now We Are Six

2/18/2025

Picture of a boy playing with toy trucks, and the words, ‘Now We Are Six Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Now We Are Six

When I was One,
     I had just begun.
When I was Two,
     I was nearly new.
When I was Three
     I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
     I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
     But now I am Six,
I’m as clever as clever,
     So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

By A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne, also known as A. A. Milne, was born on 18 January 1882 in Kilburn, London, England. He became a novelist, a playwright, a poet, and a children’s book writer. He is known as the author of “Winnie the Pooh” (1926). Alan Alexander Milne passed on at 74 years of age on 31 January 1956 in Hartfield, Sussex, England.

The Swing

2/18/2025

Outdoors picture of the shadow made by a child playing on a toy swing, with the shadow cast over the sand under the swing, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
     Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
     Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
     Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
     Over the countryside -

Till I look down on the garden green,
     Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
     Up in the air and down!

Come and swing and play with me.
     For youth is innocence,
And we are both free
     To live and dream and be.

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He became an essayist, a novelist, a travel writer, a poet, and a lyricist. He is known as the author of the adventure novels “Treasure Island” (1883) and “Kidnapped” (1886), the science fiction novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1886), and the poetry collection, “A Child’s Garden of Verses” (1885), all of which remain popular books even now with readers of all ages. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson passed on at 44 years of age on 3 December 1894 in Vailima, Samoan Islands.

Dress Up

2/17/2025

Picture of a girl playing dress up with oversized purple shoes, a pink sequin-covered dress, and a tierra, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Dress Up

Lipstick on my lips
and blush on my cheeks.
This is a game I love to play,
and one I could play for weeks.

Wearing mother’s big black shoes
and necklace of white pearl,
which comes complete with a dress
that flows as I twirl.
A special purse that I have filled with
so many treasures it’s hard for me to hold.
And I must not forget a big
fuzzy coat, just in case it’s cold.

My dress-up would not be through
without a set of keys,
and with this my wardrobe is complete
and I am very pleased.

By Wendy Silva

Little Fred

2/16/2025

Picture of a boy riding a tricycle, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Little Fred

When little Fred
     Was called to bed,
He always acted right;
     He kissed Mama,
And then Papa,
     And wished them all good-night.

He made no noise,
     Like naughty boys,
But gently up the stairs
     Directly went,
When he was sent,
     And always said his prayers.

By Author Unknown

My Shoelace Blues

2/15/2025

Picture of a person tying, or knotting, a shoelace, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

My Shoelace Blues

I’ve tried and tried to tie you, shoe.
     I’ve never done it yet.
A loop that flip-flops on the floor
     Is as close as I can get.
I’ve practiced on spaghetti.
     I’ve practiced on the mop.
I’ve practiced on my sister's hair
     Until she made me stop.
So here’s the loop again, shoe.
     I’ll hold it with my thumb.
I’ll wrap the other end around
     And yank it into bows . . .

. . . it’s done!

By Author Unknown

This is MFOL! . . . where the journey to success begins with tying one’s shoelaces . . .
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read How To Be Successful Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Two Wheels

2/14/2025

Picture of a girl on a bicycle, pedaling past a playground with green grass and a swingset, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Two Wheels

I told you I won’t.
     It’s too hard.
I told you I can’t.
     It’s too hard.

Didn’t I tell you?
     My feet, they won’t reach.
My hands, they won’t steer.
     It’s too hard.

Watch out - I’m tipping.
     Don’t let go - I’m falling.
Please; I give up.
     Not so fast, not so fast.

I don’t like this.
     Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Hey, I can’t stop.
     Hey, I’m riding, I’m riding.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
     Did you see me?
What did I tell you?
     It was easy.

By Author Unknown

One Thing At A Time

2/13/2025

Picture of a happy smiling boy and a happy smiling girl playing in a playground area in a park, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

One Thing At A Time

Work while you work,
     Play while you play;
That is the way
     To be cheerful and gay.

All that you do,
     Do with all your might;
Things done by halves
     Are never done right.

One thing each time,
     And that done well,
Is a very good rule,
     As many can tell.

Moments are useless
     Trifled away;
So work while you work
     And play while you play.

By M. A. Stodart

Best

2/12/2025

Picture of a happy smiling girl, dressed in a matching dress and bonnet, sitting on a swing, holding a basket of flowers next to her, in a woods, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Best

I like to wear my party frock
That Auntie bought in town,
My patent shoes with shiny toes,
My Sunday hat with little bows,
And ribbons hanging down.
I like to hear the people say:
“How pretty Nancy looks to-day!”

But Daddy shakes his head and says:
“You’ll make her very vain.”
And Granny says: “She should be dressed
In everything that’s of the best
But rather neat and plain.”
And Mother says: “My goodness me!
Who can this lovely lady be?”

By Rose Fyleman

Rose Amy Fyleman was born on 6 March 1877 in Nottingham, England. She became a writer and a poet. She is known for her works for children, about fairies. Rose Amy Fyleman passed on at 80 years of age on 1 August 1957 in Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, England.

Kids Who Are Different

2/11/2025

Picture of a happy young boy jumping into a water puddle in a dirt road next to a green grassy field with green leafy trees in the distance, an overcast sky above, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Kids Who Are Different

Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s.
     The kids that have ears,
     twice as big as their peers,
Or have noses that go on for days.

Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids that are just out of step.
     The kids they all tease,
     Who have cuts on their knees,
And whose sneakers are constantly wet.

Here’s to the kids that are different,
The kids with a mischievous streak.
     For when they have grown,
     As history has shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.

By Digby Wolfe

James Digby Wolfe was born on 4 June 1929 in London, England. He became a television and movie actor, a screenwriter, and a lecturer in dramatic writing at university level. He worked in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of America. James Digby Wolfe passed on at 82 years of age on 2 May 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America.

Boyhood And Boys

5/18/2024

Picture of a happy smiling boy waving at onlookers, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

“What a wonderful world it is that has boys in it!” -Author Unknown

“A boy is not a sitting-down animal.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))

“A boy’s story is the best that is ever told.” -Charles Dickens (Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - 1870))

“When I was a boy, I saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.” -Elvis Presley (Elvis Aron Presley (1935 - 1977))

“A good boy will make a good man.” -Author Unknown: proverb

“There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.” -attributed to Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910))

“A small boy, mischievous to the imp degree.” -Rea Murtha

Love - Laugh - Learn - Live - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

What a Boy Is Worth

Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
     A boy at his work or play;
A boy who whistles around the place
     Or laughs in an artless way.

Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
     And the world must wait and see,
For every man in an honored place
     Is a boy that used to be.

Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
     A boy with a face aglow,
For hid in his heart there are secrets deep
     Not even the wisest know.

Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
     A boy with his bare, shoeless feet,
So have a smile and a kindly word
     For every boy you meet.

By Margaret Isabel: “The Challenge”

Love - Laugh - Learn - Live - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

“A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.” -Robert Benchley (Robert Charles Benchley (1889 - 1945))

“A boy is naturally full of humor.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))

“Boy’s natural play is rough and tumble play, it’s the universal play of little boys. And it’s very different from aggression. And we are a society that’s failing to understand the distinction.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950))

“See things from the boy’s point of view.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))

“When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and also join the circus. With the Yankees, I’ve accomplished both.” -Graig Nettles (born 1944)

“Loyalty is a feature in a boy’s character that inspires boundless hope.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))

“One of the best things in the world to be is a boy, it requires no experience, but needs some practice to be a good one.” -Charles Dudley Warner (1829 - 1900): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)

“I am a little boy but I am going to do something really big in times to come.” -Janaid Jamshed

“As our schools become more feelings centered, risk averse, competition-free, and sedentary, they move further and further from the characteristic sensibilities of boys.” -Christina Hoff Sommers (Christina Marie Hoff Sommers (born 1950)): “The War Against Boys” (2000)

“Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.” -Author Unknown

“Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.” -Cyril Connolly

What are little boys made of
What are little boys made of
Snips & snails & puppy dogs tails
And such are little boys made of.
-Robert Southey (1774 - 1843)

“A boy is, of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage.” -Plato (about 427 B.C.E. - about 347 B.C.E.): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)

“In America, any boy may become president and I suppose that’s just one of the risks he takes.” -Adlai Stevenson (Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (1900 - 1965)

“Boys are beyond the range of anybody’s sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.” -James Thurber (1894 - 1961)

“Boy: Noise with dirt on it.” -Author Unknown

“Give a boy a dog and you’ve furnished him a playmate.” -Berton Braley (1882 - 1966)

Teddy Bears and Little Cars

When you have a baby boy,
     you’re set for the years
     of love and joy.
Teddy bears and little cars,
     building blocks and bugs in jars.
A world of things
     to see and do -
     so many good times.

By Author Unknown

Boy’s Life Magazine website: www.BoysLife.org.

“A boy is supremely confident of his own power, and dislikes being treated as a child.” -Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (born Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857 - 1941)))

“A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.” -J. B. S. Haldane (John Burden Sanderson Haldane (1892 - 1964)

“Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people.” -Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)

“Give a small boy a hammer and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding.” -Abraham Kaplan (1918 - 1993): “The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science” (1964)

“Give a boy a hammer and chisel; show him how to use them; at once he begins to hack the doorposts, to take off the corners of shutter and window frames, until you teach him a better use for them, and how to keep his activity within bounds.” -Author Unknown: as quoted in “Once a Week” (1868) periodical of London, England

“It’s the merry-hearted boys that make the best men!” -Author Unknown: Irish proverb

“The little boy who goes to the store and forgets what his mother sent him for, will probably grow up to be a congressman.” -Evan Esar (born Esar Levine (1899 - 1995))

“With boys, you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))

“Every puppy should have a boy.” -Erma Bombeck (Erma Louise Bombeck (born Erma Louise Fiste (1927 - 1996)))

“Fate has decreed that all lazy boys who come to hate books and schools and teachers and spend all their days with toys and games must sooner or later turn into donkeys.” -C. Collodi (Carlo Collodi (pseudonym of Carlo Lorenzini (1826 - 1890))): “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (1885)

“Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy.” -Author Unknown: “Pinocchio” (7 February 1940) animation; line of character Blue Fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable)

The word ‘boy’ has been in recorded use since C.E. 1154 as a descriptive term for a male child. The exact etymology of the word is unclear, but it is believed to have descended from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘boia’ meaning ‘servant’ or ‘farm worker.’

“A boy doesn’t have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn’t like pie when he sees there isn’t enough to go around.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937))

“Every time a boy shows his hands, someone suggests that he wash them.” -Edgar W. Howe (Edgar Watson ‘Ed’ Howe, also known as E. W. Howe (1853 - 1937)): as quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow and Herbert V. Prochnow, Junior, editors: “A Treasury of Humorous Quotations” (1969)

In some cultures, boys historically experienced a rite of passage that marked their transition into manhood. Examples of traditional rites of passage include a Bar Mitzvah in Judaism and a vision quest among some Native Americans. In most developed nations around the world today, a boy’s passage into manhood is marked by a mind-and-body-jarring enlistment in the military or employment in a labor-intensive job - for many boys-to-men, the transition from childhood to adulthood is no fun and without celebration. What can you do about this?

“Let us remember that a boy is the only known substance from which a man can be made.” -Thomas S. Monson (Thomas Spencer Monson (1927 - 2018))

“What is genius? - It is the power to be a boy again at will.” -James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937)

“Bear your burden manfully. Boys at school, young men who have exchanged boyish liberty for serious business, - all who have got a task to do, a work to finish - bear the burden till God gives the signal for repose - till the work is done, and the holiday is fairly earned.” -James Hamilton (1814 - 1871): as quoted in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert: “Dictionary of Burning Words of Brillian Writers” (1895), page 253

“Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy!” -George Gordon Noel Byron (also known as Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)): “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” Canto II (1812), Stanza 23

Perhaps there lives some dreamy boy, untaught
In schools, some graduate of the field or street,
Who shall become a master of the art,
An admiral sailing the high seas of thought
Fearless and first, and steering with his fleet
For lands not yet laid down in any chart.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882): “Possibilities”

We are MFOL! . . . powered by imagination . . .

Being Brave at Night

8/31/2019

Being Brave at Night

The other night ’bout two o’clock, or maybe it was three,
     An elephant with shining tusks came chasing after me.
His trunk was wavin’ in the air an’ spoutin’ jets of steam
     An’ he was out to eat me up, but still I didn’t scream
Or let him see that I was scared - a better thought I had,
     I just escaped from where I was and crawled in bed with dad.

One time there was a giant who was horrible to see,
     He had three heads and twenty arms, an’ he came after me
And red hot fire came from his mouths and every hand was red
     And he declared he’d grind my bones and make them into bread.
But I was just too smart for him, I fooled him might bad,
     Before his hands could collar me I crawled in bed with dad.

I ain’t scared of nothin’ that comes pesterin’ me at night.
     Once I was chased by forty ghosts all shimmery an’ white.
An’ I just raced ’em round the room an’ let ’em think maybe
     I’d have to stop an’ rest awhile, when they could capture me.
Then when they leapt onto my bed, Oh Gee! but they were mad
     To find that I had slipped away an’ crawled in bed with dad.

No giants, ghosts or elephants have dared to come in there
     ’Coz if they did he’d beat ’em up and chase ’em to their lair.
They just hang ’round the children’s rooms an’ snap an’ snarl an’ bite
     An’ laugh if they can make ’em yell for help with all their might.
But I don’t ever yell out loud. I’m not that sort of lad,
     I slip from out the covers and I crawl in bed with dad.

by Edgar A. Guest: “Rhymes of Childhood” (1924)

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

The Things I Do

7/28/2019

The Things I Do

I’m very good at climbing
     I nearly climbed a tree
But just as I was almost up
     I sort of skinned my knee.

I’m wonderful at walking
     I almost walked a mile
But when I got around the block
     I rested for a while.

I’m excellent at swimming
     Though I’m not very old
I almost swam the ocean
     But the water was too cold.

But what I’m really best at
     Is skipping down the hall.
I’m very good at skipping.
     I’m wonderful at skipping.

I’m marvelous at skipping.
     That is unless I fall.

by Karla Kuskin

Karla Kuskin, who sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Nicholas J. Charles, was born as Karla Seidman on 17 July 1932 in New York City, New York, United States of America. She became a writer, a poet, and an illustrator of children’s literature. Karla Kuskin passed on at 77 years of age on 20 August 2009 in Seattle, Washington, United States of America.

Little Raindrops

7/28/2019

Little Raindrops

Oh, where do you come from,
     You little drops of rain,
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
     Down the window pane?

They won’t let me walk,
     And they won’t let me play,
And they won’t let me go
     Out of doors at all today.

They put away my playthings.
     Because I broke them all,
And then they locked up all my bricks,
     And took away my ball.

Tell me, little raindrops,
     Is that the way you play,
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
     All the rainy day?

They say I’m very naughty,
     But I’ve nothing else to do
But sit here at the window;
     I should like to play with you.

The little raindrops cannot speak,
     But ‘pitter patter pat’
Means, “We can play on this side,
     Why can’t you play on that?”

by Aunt Effie

Jane Euphemia Saxby, also known by the pseudonym Aunt Effie, was born as Jane Euphemia Browne on 27 January 1811 in Bridekirk, Cumberland, England. She was married to Stephen Henry Saxby in 1862. She became a hymn writer and a poet. Her published works include, “The Dove on the Cross” (1849), “Aunt Effie’s Rhymes for Little Children” (1852), “The Voice of the Bird” (1875), and “Aunt Effie’s Gift to the Nursery” (1876). Jane Euphemia Saxby passed on at 87 years of age on 25 March 1898 in Bedminster, Somerset, England.

Riding a Two-Wheeled Bike

5/17/2019

Riding a Two-Wheeled Bike

I can’t believe I’m doing this!
     I’m riding on two wheels!
Why, it was only yesterday
     My bike had training wheels!

My parents’ said, “You’re ready now.”
      “OK,” I said, “I’ll try.”
My daddy ran and held the seat
     While mommy said, “Let’s fly!”

I’m peddling really fast now.
     The wind is in my hair.
I feel as if I’m flying high
     Two-wheeling through the air!

by Author Unknown

Do Your Best

4/1/2019

Do Your Best

Do your best, your very best,
     And do it every day.
Little boys and little girls,
     That is the wisest way.

Whatever work comes to your hand,
     At home or at your school,
Do your best with right good will;
     It is the golden rule.

For he who always does his best,
     His best will better grow;
But he who shirks or slights his task,
     Lets all the better go.

What if your lesson should be hard?
     You need not yield to sorrow,
For he who bravely works to-day,
     His task grows bright to-morrow.

by Author Unknown

Every Child Should Know a Hill

3/29/2019

Every Child Should Know a Hill

Every child should know a hill,
And the clean joy of running down its long slope
With the wind in his hair.
He should know a tree . . .
The comfort of its cool lap of shade,
And the supple strength of its arms
Balancing him between earth and sky
So he is a creature of both.

He should know bits of singing water . . .
The strange mysteries of its depths,
And the long sweet grasses that border it.

Every child should know some scrap
Of uninterrupted sky, to shout against;
And have one star, dependable and bright,
For wishing on.

by Edna Casler Joll (1944)

Edna May Joll was born as Edna May Casler on 1 February 1908 in South Dakota, United States of America. She was married to John Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Joll. She became a children’s poetry writer. Edna May Joll passed on at 55 years of age on 25 September 1963 in Ada County, Idaho, United States of America.

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