Categories
children cartoons

Great Heights

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, "Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, “Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Heights and obstacles are a matter of perspective, aren’t they? Whenever a child is convinced an obstacle is just too much for them, I need to remember it really does look as big to them as they imagine it. Part of the challenge is to convince a student they can overcome an obstacle without belittling or minimizing their fear.

How do you get a child to overcome an an obstacle in a respectful, encouraging way? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “heights.”

 

Categories
School Cartoons

Plugging Hope at School

Cartoon of two students. A boy says, "Should we abandon all hope, or keep plugging through fourth grade?"

Cartoon of two students. A boy says, “Should we abandon all hope, or keep plugging through fourth grade?”

Sometimes, it just feels like hope is a distant goal to grasp, doesn’t it? I remember hoping and praying that school would be over soon. Thirty years later, I can tell you there’s hope. Hold on. You’re break will be here before you know it.

Categories
motivation

Wilted Complaints

Cartoon of two women next to a wilted plant. One woman says, "It's a valuable plant. When I complain, it wilts."

Cartoon of two women next to a wilted plant. One woman says, “It’s a valuable plant. When I complain, it wilts.”

Oh, it’s so easy to complain, isn’t it? Something doesn’t go the way I think it should, and the next thing I know, I complaining a blue streak. I get upon my throne and declare the way things should be. Naturally, the world would be a better place if everyone just listened to me!

But the world isn’t going to cooperate. Billions of people have billions of opinions. Many are legitimate concerns. When injustice and selfishness hurts other people, protests and complaints are legitimate.

But when things aren’t going to change, no matter how much I whine, there comes a point, when the complaining is as bad as the offense. Today, I’m going to look for one of those plants. Surely there must be one out there that will let me know when my speech is becoming less than helpful.

Categories
webcomic

Voila! It’s a Duck

Cartoon of a boy in a magician's costume and a duck. The boy says, "I'm sorry, Sis! I didn't mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!"

Cartoon of a boy in a magician’s costume and a duck. The boy says, “I’m sorry, Sis! I didn’t mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!”

Siblings really do love each other. It’s just that there are so many possibilities when you have a magic wand and hat. It makes me wonder what I would do today if anything was possible. I want to make it clear to my siblings that I’d keep them just the way they are. They’ve turned into very nice adults, thank you. Besides, I don’t have a duck pond.

Categories
children cartoons

Leap Day Choices

Cartoon of a boy with a big mouth about to consume a birthday cake. The caption reads, "This choice may come back to haunt him."

Cartoon of a boy with a big mouth about to consume a birthday cake. The caption reads, “This choice may come back to haunt him.”

O why must birthday cake be designed so that it is not wise to eat the whole thing? I guess it’s because birthdays are meant to be shared with other people. You learn real quick in life to share some things or the choices will come back to haunt you.

it must be hard to have a birthday on February 29. But it could be fun too. Wouldn’t it be nice to live forty-eight years, yet only be twelve years old? The only hard part would be waiting for birthday cake every four years.