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.
Elizabeth, you know we are always talking about the small things that we can do that make a big impact, not just in our own lives but for the planet as well.
And that's why I'm such a big fan of our food recycler, Mill.
Mill is the one easy thing that makes reducing food waste effortless.
Mill is the cleanest, easiest way to prevent food waste at home.
It makes keeping food out of the trash as easy as dropping it in.
Toss in your scraps, forget about it.
No smell, no mess, no effort.
You can keep filling it and filling it for weeks.
You might even skip a garbage day or two.
Mill turns your food scraps into nutrient-rich grounds you can use in your garden or compost, or Mill can pick them up and get them to a local farm.
And an added bonus, wasting less food feels really good.
All the guilt and stress I used to feel when cleaning out my fridge is gone.
Mill makes it easy and even joyful to reduce food waste, taking a global problem and turning it into a simple daily step at home.
But you have to live with Mill to really get it.
Good thing you can try it risk-free and get $75 off with code HAPPY.
Visit mill.com slash happy.
That's mill.com slash happy.
I'm Gretchen Rubin, and this is A Little Happier.
My father, who was a very curious, bookish person, recently read a book that interested him greatly.
Joseph Turigian's biography.
The Party's Interests Come First.
The Life of Xi Zhongshun, Father of Xi Jinping.
Xi Jinping, of course, is the extraordinarily powerful and influential president of China today.
My father shared many interesting insights and facts from this book and also because he knows I love a great teaching story.
He told me a story that appears in the book about the sardines and the catfish.
I loved this story, so I looked it up, and it's apparently a very well-known teaching story.
Here is my version.
Once upon a time, people who lived far from the sea learned about sardines, and they all wanted to eat this tasty fish.
But the sellers of the sardines faced a problem.
How could they transport the sardines across the countryside and keep them tasting fresh?
Someone tried shipping the fish by railway in huge water tanks, but the sardines became lethargic and some even died along the journey.
So when they arrived, the fish were no longer fit for sale.
Then someone thought about catfish, a predator of sardines.
After they placed sardines in the water tanks, they added a catfish.
To avoid the catfish, the sardines had to stay active and alert, so when they arrived at the market they were in a fresh state.
The lesson is that in order to stay in best form, we need to stay alert and active.
Because of this story, people use the phrase catfish effect to invoke the idea that having a strong competitor can cause a person or an organization to work harder and to stay engaged.
People also use the phrase catfish management to convey the idea that when an energetic, highly motivated person is introduced into a team, other team members start to work harder.
Now, as it turns out, this story is apocryphal.
Catfish and sardines don't actually exist in the same environments.
Also, putting a predator and prey together in a tank would mean that the prey would get eaten or die from stress.
And even if they didn't get eaten or die, the stress would make them taste worse, not better.
Not only that, no one has ever transported live sardines and tanks by rail this way.
So this teaching story isn't historically accurate.
But it's a popular story because it makes a useful point.
Being in an environment where we need to show hustle and energy can be better for us than being in quiet, stagnant surroundings.
Sometimes a teaching story has such a great lesson that it doesn't even matter if it's not true.
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.
