Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

That was the phrase that my 3 and a half year old used one day. He'd gotten in trouble at daycare. He had an 'accident' right after we got home. He broke a toy. He was cranky and awful. So, at the end of my rope, I pulled him into my lap and asked him to tell me what was wrong, and he said that phrase. He looked me in the eyes and said, 'Momma, today- I am Alexander'. And then he started to cry. I had this book when I was a little girl, and loved it, so I of course had to have it for my son. I remembered it comforting me. I remember commiserating with poor Alexander, who was so set upon. And, my wonderful little boy finds the same comfort in Alexander as I once did. The knowledge that- sometimes, the world is not a fair place. Sometimes everything just seems to go wrong. This book gives us a wonderful starting point for a conversation. We talk about how Alexander's choices are making things harder for himself. We talk about how some things just aren't going Alexander's way. We talk about things that Alexander could have done instead, to perhaps make things better, instead of worse. And, one of the most important things that we talk about is how, no matter what, I love him. Even when everything goes wrong. Even when he isn't acting very nice. Nothing that he can do can make me love him any less, he can only make me love him more. And- tomorrow is another day. We can always go to bed, and try to have a better day, and make better choices, tomorrow. I read some of the negative reviews on this book, and they really confuse me. Are children not supposed to have bad days? Or, if they have bad days, are they not supposed to be able to talk about them? The safety of cuddling up with Momma and being able to talk about how everything is going wrong is one of the greatest gifts a child can be given. I can't make the world a wonderful place- but I can help my son deal with it, when it isn't. Alexander won't bring world peace, but I know that it helped my little boy explain to me why he was acting so terrible- he was really just sad, and needed me to understand that he felt the world was unfair sometimes. So, while I can hope against hope that my son will always have good days, and that when faced with upsetting things he will act with nothing but smiles and good cheer- I realize that I am raising a person, and not a machine. Some days are like that. Even in Australia.