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.
The holidays are such a joyful time, but let's be honest, they can also be a lot.
There's so much to cook, so much to clean, and unfortunately, so much food waste.
You know, we're always thinking about the small things we can do that make an impact not just for our own happiness but for the planet too.
And that's why I'm such a big fan of my Mill Food Recycler.
Mill is odorless and fully automated, eliminating all the pain points associated with old-fashioned compost pails and smelly garbage cans.
It makes keeping food out of the trash as easy as dropping it in.
It can be hectic in my home around the holidays, but Mill keeps me keeping my cool when I'm hosting.
With all the food prep and guests arriving, I never have to stress about the trash.
Plus, it looks super cool and modern in my kitchen.
Add Mill to your wishlist or gift one now.
Get up to 200 off during their biggest sale of the season, Thursday November 20th through Monday December 1st.
Miss the sale?
You can still get $75 off with code HAPPY.
Visit mill.com slash HAPPY.
That's mill.com slash H-A-P-P-Y.
Lemonada.
I'm Gretchen Rubin, and this is A Little Happier.
Something I think about constantly is expectations.
I think about the outer expectations that others impose on us, like work deadlines, and the inner expectations we impose on ourselves, like wanting to keep a New.
I think about these kinds of expectations because they stand at the core of my four tendencies.
Personality framework that divides people into upholders questioners, obligers and rebels.
If you want to learn more about this framework and discover your tendency, take my free quiz at GretchenRubincom.
More than three and a half million people have taken that quiz.
But expectations are important in another sense.
In our lives.
We have expectations about how things will go, what we'll experience, how we'll behave and how other people will behave.
And the responses that we feel to situations whether we feel pleased angry resentful worried, relieved or whatever is often a reflection of those expectations.
If we expect something better than what we actually encounter, the experience feels more negative.
And if we expect something less than what we encounter, it feels more positive.
This is a very common observation.
It has given rise to many familiar proverbs.
Expect the best, prepare for the worst.
Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.
That one is often attributed to writer Annie Lamont.
I was thinking about this truth in the context of the empty nest stage of life.
I've noticed that the empty nest or, as I'm calling it, the open door, is a transition when many people grapple with expectations.
For instance, parents show a wide range in their expectations of the frequency of connection with their child, and whether they feel good or bad about that frequency depends on their expectations.
Often, parents and children don't discuss these expectations explicitly.
They don't talk about what they expect.
And then they're disappointed, resentful or annoyed by a parent or child's communication style.
For instance, many parents expect that they'll communicate with their children in college just as much as they communicated with that child at home.
Or because they see that a child texts all day long with their friends.
They expect to share the same constant stream of contact themselves.
Children, on the other hand, may expect a much lower level of communication.
It's a very common source of tension.
But at the core of this issue is a clash of expectations.
It's not so much about what people are actually doing, but what is expected.
One mother told me, my son texts me all the time.
I hear from him every few days.
Another mother said, I almost never hear from my son.
In a week, I only get two or three texts or calls.
The behavior is the same.
It's the expectations and the framing that are different.
I learned about a striking example of this issue of expectations with the phenomenon of parasyndrome.
This syndrome is the sense of extreme disappointment exhibited by some individuals when visiting Paris, who feel that the city does not live up to their expectations.
It's a severe form of culture shock.
It's typically discussed in the context of tourists from Japan.
So why might some tourists from Japan feel this profound letdown when they visit Paris for the first time?
One reason is that many Japanese people have an idealized vision of Paris.
In Japanese culture, the city is often portrayed as an idyllic place of splendor, romance and luxury.
And of course, Paris is an extraordinary city, rich in art, history, and beauty.
But it's also an ordinary city.
It has its grit and grime, especially compared to the cities of Japan.
It has inhabitants who may act rude or grumpy.
It has bad weather.
One expert commented that Paris syndrome isn't really specific to Paris, but occurs when we feel disappointment or even despair when reality doesn't live up to our romantic expectations.
Maybe we're disappointed because we thought Paris would be more immaculately beautiful.
Or maybe we're disappointed because we thought we'd text back and forth all day long with our college freshmen.
The more we expect, the more disappointed we may be.
In Paris, or anywhere.
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.
