That Missing Feeling
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Helping children balance that missing feeling after their parents' divorce.
Mia’s life feels split in two after her parents get divorced — even her cat and dog now live in two separate places. When she’s at her dad’s house, Mia misses her mom’s jokes and singing. And when she’s at her mom’s house, she misses her dad’s laugh and cooking. Mia just can’t quite shake that missing feeling. Sometimes that missing feeling makes her angry. And sometimes it makes her sad.
One day when Mia visits her Grandpa, he gives her a little blue notebook saying, “When I write about Grandma, I am sad but I am happy too. She is gone, but you are here. Life changes, and writing helps me think about these changes. My notebook is a home for my heart.” Mia keeps her notebook wherever she goes, writing about happy and sad memories. And soon her notebook becomes a way to balance that missing feeling. And also a home for her heart.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is a poet whose work has appeared in magazines and children's anthologies as well as picture books. She earned her MA degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and teaches writing in schools nationwide and at her blog, The Poem Farm. Amy lives in Holland, New York, with her family, animals, and books. Visit her online at amyludwigvanderwater.com, on Twitter @amylvpoemfarm, and on Instagram @amyludwigvanderwater.
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