Decades ago, Richard Dudum wrote No One Makes A Mess Like Me as a song, and now he's adapted his thought-provoking lyrics into a children's book.
The song is a conversation between a father and son starting with the son telling his father that "the other kids said I don't belong." The boy is trying to find his place in this world. The child's father then recalls a time when he experienced the same feelings and had the same conversation with his own father years earlier. Hence, "no one makes a mess that's quite like you." The message is: YES, you are unique. YES, you know right from wrong. And YES, you are right where you belong.
It's increasingly difficult for children to feel welcome, included, and appreciated in today's ever-changing world. Kids are inundated with mixed messages, often competing with one another. These messages are sometimes confusing, overwhelming and can be hurtful. The goal of No One Makes A Mess Like Me is to encourage our children to always be true to themselves, to think critically, to follow their own paths, to set their own expectations, and to grow strong and capable with self-confidence and self-control.
In this book, No One Makes A Mess Like Me, four different families are experiencing the exact same conversation and asking and discussing the same question, "Do I belong?" Each family is unique and represents the beautiful diversity that represents today's families. Nowadays, too much time is spent focusing on our dissimilarities. No One Makes A Mess Like Me celebrates our differences and seeks to find unity within our diversity.
Yes, our children can be who they are and can celebrate their uniqueness. Yes, our children can be taught right from wrong. Yes, we can help our children set and meet their own expectations and standards. Yes, our children can be raised to be self-confident and have self-esteem. Yes, our children are right where they belong.
