Exactly What We Need

Last night, I read a wonderful story to my four-year-old twins, Avi and Tallia. The book, Caps for Sale and the Mindful Monkeys by Esphyr Slobodkina, tells the story of a peddler who ends up with 16 unwanted monkeys in his backyard. After complaining that the monkeys won’t go away, the peddler’s friend Essie provides sage advice:

“Sometimes we decide something is no good before we have given it a chance. Sometimes what we don’t want is exactly what we need.”

As the story continues, the peddler f...