Hate Is a Bad Word

I received a copy of “The Day Leo Said I Hate You” by Robie Harris back October, before I stopped accepting reviews.  You can see why.  The backlog is incredible.  If I reviewed everything that came my way, I’d never blog about anything else, much less actually read to my children.

But I was intrigued by the title of this book because I have indeed heard those words directed at me from Kyle.  Luckily, I learned from a Kate Hudson movie what to say back when Hayden Panetierre gets mad.  “Well, I’m just going to have to live with that.”  Still, I wanted a way to explain how those three words sting in a way the children could understand.

The Day Leo Said I Hate You is about a kid who is just like my kids.  He is rambunctious, non-stop, and overflows with energy, to the point that one day he lets it fly, stopping his mother in her tracks.  Instead of reacting with fury, she uses the moment to teach Leo about the power of words.  Including “broccoli.”

Because of his clear resemblance to them, my kids love this book.  They have asked for it as a bedtime story over and over.  They especially love the page that shows Leo’s overly large head as he gets angry.  Now they know that “hate” is a bad word, and when I think about it, I realize that they haven’t said it to me ever since.