There's a Monster in My Tummy

I was married right out of high school and bore two sons within the first two years. Needing extra income but wanting to stay home with my sons, I decided to start an in–home childcare facility. I did childcare for the next forty–two years. I had many children enrolled in my childcare facility, all with different wants and needs. One child in particular was constantly hungry. Within an hour after breakfast, he would want something to eat. He told me his tummy was growling. I told him he needed to tame the monster in his tummy. He then told me that he could only tame it if he fed the monster; therefore, it became a game with him when he was hungry. It wasn't long until all the children claimed they had a monster in their tummy and needed something to eat. We would use this monster story during our circle time. The children enjoyed talking about the kind of tummy monster they had in their tummy. I decided to use this as a story line for my second children's book.1

-- Carol Holmgren