I love you and love you. And love you and love you. And love you and love you.

I have an obsession. And that obsession goes by the name of Sandra Boynton. This blog has been a long time coming, let me tell you, because not a week goes by (and seldom a day) when I do not spend a significant amount of time pondering the Awesomeness that is Sandra Boynton. Tonight, as I was reading the classic that is "Night-Night, Little Pookie" to my son, I came to the awareness that the time is now. I considered writing an Ode to Sandra Boynton, but thought that may be a little over the top. So, let me be straightforward:

Sandra Boynton, if you're reading this, I want to be you. Or at the very least, be your best friend ever. (I want to be your personal penguin from now on...)

In all seriousness though, this wonderful woman wrote a book about hippo belly buttons. How much cooler can it get than that? And a pig named Little Pookie. And a bunch of animals that bathe and brush their teeth and then exercise before bed (who does that?). And birthday monsters (who could forget the birthday monsters!). My deepest literary wish for Little Man is that one night he'll say to me, just like little Pookie, "Night-night, little Mommy" and then drift of into dreamland. My second deepest literary wish is that his next bedroom would be decorated with Sandra Boynton posters. After that, I hope he'll actually learn to read. But that's not even a close second to my desire for him to be brainwashed by Sandra Boynton. She's a great role model for him, I'm sure: she went to Yale, after all.

At any rate, I invite you to join with me behind the rallying cry of "But YES the hippopotamus!" and support Sandra Boynton by finding all of her books so that you will then be able to understand all the hidden references I included in this post. And so that when your children grow up and become friends with my child, they'll have something to talk about.

Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?