Did you know that infants are ready to learn sign language?
Two-year-olds are ready to learn the basics of science and three-year-olds are ready to learn coding.
Your child is ready to learn and at Primrose Schools, teachers make the most of this time by creating a joyful, purposeful learning experience unlike any other.
For instance, have you heard of the Primrose Friends?
In every Primrose school classroom, teachers use these 12 lovable puppets to make character development joyful, meaningful and memorable.
From exploring generosity with Benjamin the Bear to practicing honesty with Peanut the Pony, every friend plays a special part in helping children learn important values while having plenty of fun along the way.
We could all use some friends like that.
You can learn more at primroseschools.com.
Now enrolling infants through children age five.
That's primroseschools.com for more information.
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Lemonada I'm Gretchen Rubin, and this is A Little Happier.
As part of my work, I do many things.
I work on two podcasts Happier with Gretchen Rubin, which is the one you're listening to, and my new podcast with psychotherapist and writer Lori Gottlieb, called.
Since You Asked.
I write two free weekly newsletters, one called Five Things Making Me Happy and one called Secrets of Adulthood.
Please subscribe.
I love writing these.
I also create courses.
I create products.
I have an app called Happier.
But my primary identity, and certainly the one that I enjoy most and value most, and that is the wellspring for everything else I do is writing books.
I love to write.
In fact, more accurately, I'd say that I have to write.
It's true that I would write even if no one else read what I wrote.
I write every day of the year.
It is my treehouse and my cubicle.
Separate from actually writing a book, but part of my work as a writer is going on book tours.
I really enjoy book tours.
I like the adventure.
I like meeting new people.
I like going to new bookstores or other venues.
And as you might suspect, I like talking about my book.
I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do it.
But it is also true that by the time it hits the shelves, my creative engagement with a book is long past.
The work of printing and distributing the book takes many months.
So by the time I'm on a book tour, I'm deep in a new project.
I've talked to many authors about the effort it takes to balance the demands of the former and the new project in time, energy and mental space.
It's tricky.
Some writers even hold off starting a new project because they don't like to serve two projects at the same time.
I read a funny description of this feeling in an interview in the Harvard Business Review with the eminent novelist Ian McEwan.
I love McEwan's work, and I've read many of his 18 published novels.
Reading his observation, it occurred to me that probably many people have a similar feeling about aspects of their own work.
There's the challenge and satisfaction of working on a project and then, at some later point, after you've moved on to other things, you have to return to it and you feel like you're working for some former version of yourself.
Ian McEwan said, The best bit of writing a novel is writing the novel.
Then, six or nine months later, you're required to schlep around like some guy selling brushes and you become the employee of your former self, who was so happy at his desk, freely dreaming.
He's sending you as his salesman.
I love this phrase, the employee of your former self.
Maybe you signed up for a class that you're not enjoying, but you feel like you have to continue to attend to get your money's worth.
Maybe you've started a major home project that has turned into a big drag, but you have to finish because otherwise your house won't be livable.
Maybe you agreed to serve on a committee that sounded interesting but turns out to require a lot of drudge work.
You're an employee of your former self.
It also occurs to me that sometimes it's like we're an employee of our future self.
You're doing work now because your future self will demand it.
You're making a lot of effort to pack wisely for a long trip.
You're exercising regularly so you'll be healthier and stronger decades from now.
You're studying for a degree that will give you more career opportunities for the future.
You're an employee of your future self.
I think this is a very funny and illuminating way to think about things.
I'm Gretchen Rubin, and I hope this makes your week a little happier.
From the Onward Project Hi, Gretchen, Craig Robinson, and my little sister Michelle here.
We host a new podcast called IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.
We know you're the queen of giving advice, so we wanted to get a few tips from you.
You know, Gretchen, a lot of our listeners are going through some major life changes.
What advice do you have for folks who are trying to stay grounded in the midst of major life transitions?
Craig and Michelle, I am so happy to be talking to you.
Here are a few questions that might help us gain perspective.
So consider questions like this.
What activities take up my time but are not particularly useful or stimulating for me?
Do I spend a lot of time on something that's important to someone else but is not very important to me?
If I could magically change one habit in my life, what would I choose?
And here's a question.
Would I like to have more time in solitude restorative solitude or would I like to have more time with friends?
You know, just thinking about questions like this can help us start to figure out how we might make our lives happier.
With greater self-knowledge, we're better able to make hard decisions that reflect ourselves, our own nature, our own interests, our own values.
In my own case, I have found that the more my life reflects my nature, the happier I get and the more grounded I feel when I'm going through a period of major change or transition.
For more great advice, search for IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson wherever you get podcasts.
You can listen to Issa Rae on letting go of certain friendships, Kiki Palmer on why disappointment is actually the key to career success, Seth and Lauren Rogan on caring for aging parents, and so many more.
