Brittni (00:01.35)

Welcome into the Resting in Motherhood podcast. I am so excited for our chat today. We are going to be chatting with Lynn Greenberg. Let me restart. We are going to be chatting with Lynn Greenberg, who is the author of the Creative Cab Company presents Robbie this. my goodness. I am so sorry. Let me restart all of us. Okay.

Welcome into the Resting in Motherhood podcast. I am so excited about our chat today. We are going to be chatting with Lynn Greenberg, who is the author of Robbie the Dyslexic Taxi and the Airport Adventure. Lynn, if you would just introduce us to you and just kind of give a quick little bio.

lynn greenberg (00:29.55)

Hi, yeah, thank you so much for having me. My youngest son, Jonathan, I have four kids and now I’m a grandma too.

My youngest son, Jonathan, I co -authored a children’s book, which you mentioned, Robbie, and he is getting his MFA. He is also the illustrator. He is, you know, prejudiced aside, I think the illustrations are adorable, and he is dyslexic, which we can talk about, and that’s what led us to writing this book.

Brittni (01:10.902)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (01:25.377)

We felt that it was really important for people with any neurodiverse issues to be seen. And it starts young and we wanted people to know that there’s a whole big wide world out there. And so we wrote this book hoping to get a lot of people interested and involved.

Brittni (01:47.251)

Well, I love it and I will also tell you just a little like tidbit my daughter loves the book. It’s like one of our go -to bedtime books. So she knows Robbie very well and I just love the book because like you said, it’s done in such a way that it makes it a very open and inviting concept. Like I love how I don’t want to give too much away about the book, but I love how Robbie

lynn greenberg (01:55.382)

Smell.

Brittni (02:13.896)

memorizes his routes, right? So that he doesn’t have to read the signs. But if you could kind of go in, I know you said that Jonathan is dyslexic, which is what started this journey, but kind of how you decided like, let’s do a children’s book and where the idea kind of came from and how it blossomed.

lynn greenberg (02:16.433)

Yes.

lynn greenberg (02:32.852)

So, John is dyslexic and when he was little, you know, he’s my youngest of four. And obviously I know that everyone learns differently. but I knew he was missing some of the basic cues and landmarks, but I knew he was super smart because he could tell me that Thomas the tank engine, you know, all the characters names, but he couldn’t tell me that Thomas started with the letter T and,

You know, I knew something was up. He didn’t want to sing the ABC song. He just wasn’t hitting some of those marks. And when he was in nursery school, you know, I’d have his teacher be like, well, he’s a boy or he’s just not that smart. And I’m like, no, something more is up and I don’t like that response. So, you know, I started digging and…

Brittni (03:18.998)

Totally.

lynn greenberg (03:24.122)

I started asking questions and when he got to elementary school, the same thing kind of happened. I have a friend who’s a pediatrician. I started talking to her about it and then to my pediatrician, to John’s pediatrician, and we found somebody who would test him when he was about six and a half. Lo and behold, classic dyslexic, super smart, just needed to learn how to read differently.

Brittni (03:54.486)

Totally.

lynn greenberg (03:54.557)

And that became our adventure and then traveled to when we decided to write the book. John is an art major. He’s getting his MFA now. And when he was in college, COVID hit. And as an art major, it’s very hard to do art virtually. And so he had a lot of free time on his hands. And I also was reading on on FaceTime to my grandchildren. so, yeah.

Brittni (04:20.611)

I love that.

lynn greenberg (04:22.927)

It’s sort of the idea grew like, what if we wrote a book? What would it be about? What do we know? And, you know, obviously dyslexia and that journey. And so Robbie, Robbie grew from that. And there you go. That’s how we got the book. And, you know, the rest is history, shall we say.

Brittni (04:38.198)

And I read, can’t remember if I read this in the book or in your bio, but you guys will be adding to the Creative Cab Company. Is that right?

lynn greenberg (04:51.516)

Yes. Yes. So we have had such an amazing response, not just with people, you know, from people with dyslexia, although that’s been an amazing community. But, you know, people who have other neurodivergent issues, people we felt like wanted to see themselves in a book and also to people who don’t, but maybe wanted to.

know, broaden their horizons to teach their children about differences and how that’s a great thing, not a bad thing. For teachers who might not know enough about it, you know, pediatricians, for the community. And because we’ve had such a positive response, we’ve decided to write about other neurodivergent issues. under the, you know, Robbie works for the Creative Cab Company. And so,

other people in the creative other vehicles in the creative cab company will now be coming out and we’ll have more books and the next book not to give too much away is about a character who has ADHD. So thanks.

Brittni (06:01.018)

I love that. Amazing. Yes, I think one of the things that I really like about the book is as a mom, just like you brought up, like talking to our children about differences in a way that makes it something beautiful and lets them know, like, everybody is different and we all have our strengths and all of that can come together to make this beautiful world.

lynn greenberg (06:26.532)

agreed. called, know, John always says, dyslexia is my superpower. Before he could read, would create worlds and start drawing. And so we realized he has quite a talent for it. that became, you know, his journey was as an artist and couldn’t be more proud of what he has created. So.

Brittni (06:52.724)

Well, and what a fun thing to do with your child. Excuse me. What a fun thing to do with your child and, my gosh, hold on.

lynn greenberg (06:55.513)

Yes.

Brittni (07:05.34)

What a fun thing to do with your child. And I think my community is mostly moms with little ones. So how fun for us to see you like writing a book, co -authoring a book with your son, like how many fun things we all as moms have to look forward to with our children in the sky’s the limit.

lynn greenberg (07:24.524)

Absolutely, thank you. Yeah, it’s been really great. We decided right off that if this was going to go anywhere, we were going to have to not just be mom and son, but business partners. So we found a new language that we needed to communicate with each other. And it’s been great. So thanks.

Brittni (07:36.726)

Totally.

Brittni (07:44.766)

Amazing, yes. So one question I have for you is, I know you said that you started asking questions, you got the dyslexia diagnosis, and then after that, how did you navigate kind of supporting him through that, supporting him? I would assume, I don’t know if he went to public school, but the public school system might not be the most supportive in supporting a dyslexic child. So how did you support him in that? And then I also just had the thought of how beautiful that he

lynn greenberg (08:11.454)

Thank

Brittni (08:14.142)

wrote a book, right? Like the one thing that probably felt totally overwhelming to him as a child is now something that he can say he’s written. So yeah, if you can just talk a little bit about that.

lynn greenberg (08:22.595)

Yes. Sure. Once we got the diagnosis, then then we set out on a new journey. know, the school system, you know, I think it’s very hard. Teachers. Teachers cannot teach as many children as are in their classrooms. It’s just not fair, and so I think it’s a lot of teachers also don’t know enough about learning differences.

Brittni (08:31.062)

Totally.

Brittni (08:42.521)

there.

lynn greenberg (08:49.442)

And so in a class of 20, 25 kids, you cannot really teach everybody. And so for us, the public school system was a problem. Even the learning specialist said to me point blank, I really don’t know how to teach a child with dyslexia. And so I was glad that she had said that. And I spoke again to the person who tested him because also the school wouldn’t test him. So we had to go out and find someone and she was…

Brittni (09:14.154)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (09:18.643)

really wonderful person and she had two children who had different learning issues. And so she was very helpful and she pointed us in the direction of a school called the Windward School, which was only in Westchester, New York and now is in Manhattan as well. we applied. They only take kids who have a language based learning issue like dyslexia and he got, yeah, he got in, which was amazing, but

Brittni (09:40.442)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (09:48.545)

You know, it’s about a 45 minute drive without traffic from my house and he had to be driven and it’s private school. So as I said, we have four kids, you know, now more, but with their law children and grandchildren. But, you know, we, we, as a family decided to do this, to make the commitment because I wouldn’t be home a lot of the afternoons with my other kids. And, you know, we had to eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly because it’s private school.

Brittni (10:17.59)

Totally.

lynn greenberg (10:17.672)

So, yeah, we made a family decision and everyone was really wonderful and supportive of John and the commitment to doing that. And so John went to this private school and it changed his world.

Brittni (10:31.588)

Wow, wow. And then I also read that you’re a lawyer. So were you actively practicing law during all of this back and forth as well?

lynn greenberg (10:41.823)

I retired and I thought at some point I would go back. You know, before when John was born, you know, with three older children and then John, there’s a pretty big age gap between them. And so I thought I would take some time off. And then when I realized this was going to be a commitment, you know, they take kids and teach them at the school for as long as they need to be there.

Brittni (10:47.114)

Okay.

lynn greenberg (11:10.003)

And so John was there for four years, which was amazing because often kids are there longer. But at the time I thought, yeah, at the time I thought, you know what, I’m not, can’t do it all. I can’t do it all. For all the moms out there who say, you you can, it’s hard. It’s hard to be a mom and teach and for my case, be a lawyer. And I decided to retire at that point. I figured I could always go back.

Brittni (11:15.84)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (11:39.467)

But I did not, and I did other things, and writing a book was one of them.

Brittni (11:44.508)

I was just going to say and then you ended up writing a book and as a child of a mom who retired when I was born, I know just how special it is to have mom there and how much of a difference I’m sure you made in Jonathan’s life as well.

lynn greenberg (11:59.27)

Well, you know, I think it’s so hard, know, women want to work, men want to work, and you know, it’s a very hard decision. I knew personally, excuse me, that I could not do it all. Like I tried working when I had the three other children and I felt like I was racing and not doing my best job with any of it.

Brittni (12:07.072)

Totally.

lynn greenberg (12:25.69)

And so I knew I needed to take some time off. And then when John was born, I definitely knew I had to take time off. So I was very lucky, you know, that my husband and I came to that agreement and it worked out really best for our family.

Brittni (12:42.014)

Wow. And like you said, now look at you guys. You both are published authors, which is amazing. Which also leads me into how did you guys come up with Robbie the Taxi and the Creative Cab Company? Like where did this idea come I know you just kind of like hit a light bulb for me that you’re in New York, which I would assume they are set in Manhattan. I can’t remember. Does it say Manhattan in it?

lynn greenberg (12:48.519)

Thank you.

lynn greenberg (13:07.789)

No, it doesn’t. I’m actually in Connecticut, but very close to New York. Yeah, that’s why the school was a bit of a drive. we thought about what do we know? And, you know, little kids, what are they like? you know, often it’s a car and, you know, we thought of Thomas the Tank Engine with trains and, you know, there were different cartoons with cars. And we thought, well, if we did a car, how would that car get around if it couldn’t read the street signs?

Brittni (13:10.123)

you’re in Connecticut. Okay.

lynn greenberg (13:37.236)

And so that became our conversation. John had some issues with his left and his right directions. So early on, this will be backwards, but I taught him that if you held up your left hand and opened it, you would see an L. And so when he realized that, he started realizing that this was left and the other was right.

So we thought about, a car can’t do that. So how would this car navigate the world? And that’s how Robbie was born.

Brittni (14:11.574)

Totally.

So I actually, that’s a question for you. I did not realize that with dyslexia, does it also impact like knowing right and left and knowing directions?

lynn greenberg (14:24.027)

For a lot of people with dyslexia, does. A lot of people are, you know, sometimes people think with dyslexia, you know, that means they’re flipping their letters back and forth. And for some people, that is true. But dyslexia is how your brain hears and translates it. So, you know, for John and for a lot of other people, you know, left and right is difficult.

Brittni (14:26.783)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (14:50.714)

There are many comorbidities, meaning you might have dyslexia and also have ADHD or dysgraphia. You might have trouble writing or dyscalculia. You might have trouble with math or, you know, some are on the autistic spectrum, not as many, but different neurodiverse issues have, you know, issues that morph into, you know, have many different faces.

And so for John, he absolutely could not tell his left from his right for a while. And now, once in a while, it gets lost. But with navigation and all, he does pretty well. And yeah, so.

Brittni (15:30.976)

Wow. I was just thinking like, what a beautiful time to live in because I think we’re all becoming much more aware of just neurodivergence in general, right? Like if you go on Instagram, there’s so many things about ADHD, right? And like how nice now as parents to have these resources and more knowledge. But if you could kind of give…

moms some early, I know you kind of mentioned at the beginning of the episode, but like some early things to maybe be on the lookout for that might say, hey, you know what, like I need to get curious here and dive a little bit deeper. Like if we’re, if they’re worried about dyslexia.

lynn greenberg (16:13.221)

So for John, could remember things that he had seen. He could remember characters, but he absolutely could not recite the ABCs. When children were starting to learn how to read, he would memorize the story, but he couldn’t read it. at first people were like, what are you talking about? He can read fine. I’m like, no, he’s memorized the story.

He’s met, most dyslexics are highly intelligent and they find ways around it. And for many like John, know, he memorized the story. So at first nobody could believe that he couldn’t read it, but he couldn’t. And I think it’s very important as a parent to really watch your child and no matter what the experts are telling you.

Brittni (16:45.844)

Yeah.

Brittni (16:58.891)

And I think it’s very important as a parent to really watch your child. And no matter what the experts are telling you, if something does not feel right, you absolutely can’t.

lynn greenberg (17:09.439)

If something does not feel right, you absolutely can’t let that go. You have to keep advocating for your child, even if it’s an uphill battle. In this case, everyone tried to tell me he just wasn’t smart, that he was a slow child because he was a boy. And I knew in my heart that that wasn’t right. And they also would say to me, know, well, John’s kind of a trouble kid. And I’m like,

Brittni (17:20.062)

In this case, know, everyone tried to tell me he just wasn’t smart. That he was a slow child because he was a boy. And I knew in my heart that that wasn’t right. And they also would say to me, you know, well, Tom’s kind of troubled kid. And I’m like, he’s so easy. He’s the sweetest, kindest, like, what are you talking about? But he was acting out his feelings because he was frustrated. And so I think the verbal and the nonverbal cues are really important for parents to watch.

lynn greenberg (17:36.222)

He’s so easy. He’s the sweetest, kindest, like, what are you talking about? But he was acting out in school because he was frustrated. And so I think the verbal and the nonverbal cues are really important for parents to watch. Don’t let go of your gut instinct. Keep pushing until you find an answer.

Brittni (17:55.757)

I love that and I you probably don’t know much about my community but that is I’m like Instinct driven like let’s follow our instincts as mom and and I’ll tell moms like if you get an answer from someone and it doesn’t feel right to you get a second opinion get a third opinion like keep Advocating if that feeling is there so I love that. Thank you for sharing that

lynn greenberg (18:12.149)

100 %

lynn greenberg (18:17.238)

Yeah, no, I think it’s so important because, you know, the experts aren’t always the experts and, you know, you know your child better than anyone. So, you know, keep working on that, you know, from that instinct.

Brittni (18:27.67)

Totally.

Yeah, yeah, so helpful. And then one question I have for you is, did you run into any challenges as a mother -son team during writing the book?

lynn greenberg (18:44.001)

you know, I think, you know, you try to be so careful with each other, you know, parents and children, you don’t want to, don’t want to be critical of your child. And so we had to find a language, you know, and not that I would criticize, but I would be, you know, we would say, well, what do you think of this part of the story? Or what do you think of this picture? And so we had to navigate how we were going to, to do this.

Brittni (18:50.133)

Yeah.

lynn greenberg (19:14.366)

taking ourselves out of, you know, a mom or, you know, John. we had to find a different way to communicate. And we actually have been, it’s been great. We’ve been pretty successful at it. Every now and then I will, you know, he’ll say something or I’ll say something and we will sort of roll our eyes at each other. But for the most part, it’s really been a great success story, I have to say. It’s given us a lot of pleasure.

you know, to have a different relationship on top of, you know, the parent -child one.

Brittni (19:47.776)

Totally, yeah, you get to put on, like, you get to take off mom hat and put on, like, co -author or co -worker hat. That’s…

lynn greenberg (19:51.687)

Yes. Yeah. And we’ve also tried really hard. I’m sorry. But to find different jobs. So like I’ll handle more of the business aspect of it. He’ll handle more of the creative aspect of it. it’s grown so much that we have had to work on changing those roles a little bit too.

Brittni (20:14.166)

Totally. But I also think just being his mom and you being his mom, for him, like you guys know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so well that I’m sure it was actually pretty easy to kind of like delegate who is doing what.

lynn greenberg (20:22.246)

Yes.

lynn greenberg (20:28.676)

Exactly. you know, it really, it’s been great. And I’m really, I’m so proud, you know, he’s getting his MFA, he’s working so hard and he’s still doing this. It’s like, you know, two full -time jobs. So I try to take, I try to take some of that part away, the business part of it so that he can really focus on also doing what he loves and to be creative. So.

Brittni (20:42.869)

Yeah.

Brittni (20:53.706)

Does he have, like, what are his plans with his MFA? Has he, like, decided yet kind of what his path, what he wants his path to look like?

lynn greenberg (21:02.993)

He’s he is not 100 % sure he’s he goes between really wanting maybe to teach. You know, do it teaching art to maybe, you know, helping other artists be creative like owning working in a gallery, something like that. So he’s he’s exploring those things. He’s sort of work, you know, during summers and vacations.

Brittni (21:10.378)

Wow.

lynn greenberg (21:30.765)

in those two areas and he’s trying to decide what to do.

Brittni (21:34.826)

Well, how fun for him to have, like, be a published author, but also have, like, the world in front of him to decide what he wants to do. Yes. Yeah. One question I have for you is the book obviously promotes empathy and kindness. So could you share some ways that parents can foster these values in their children, especially toward neurodiverse individuals?

lynn greenberg (21:42.831)

Yes, thank you. It is exciting.

lynn greenberg (22:01.968)

So, you know, when John was younger, it was very hard to find community. We didn’t have Facebook. We didn’t have Instagram. You know, I couldn’t do a lot of the research on my computer because, you know, my computer was a big box and, you know, it like, 10, it took an hour to, you know, turn it on. And now I think there are so many social media sites and communities online.

Brittni (22:09.086)

Yeah.

lynn greenberg (22:28.048)

but I think it’s very important to find your community for yourself as a parent and for your children. And I think the world gets very angry. And right now I feel like we’re in a period of time where I wish the rhetoric was less crazy all the way around. Differences can be beautiful and I think we need to…

Brittni (22:50.676)

Yeah.

lynn greenberg (22:55.181)

really tell our children that because we are their first teachers. And, you know, it’s very hard, but I think it’s so important to tell your kids that differences are great. You know, my strength might not be your strength and that’s okay because, you know, you might have something to offer that I don’t have and let’s find those things together. And I think an explanation of some of the neurodivergent issues.

Brittni (22:59.508)

Yeah.

Brittni (23:06.11)

is that differences are great. My strength might not be your strength, and that’s OK, because you might have something to offer that I don’t have. And let’s find those things together. And I think an explanation of some of the neurodivergent issues are important.

lynn greenberg (23:23.894)

are important for other kids to understand. So I went into my grandson’s classroom and read the book. And it was, you know, we do that in other schools, but you know, in his classroom, they were at the time learning, you know, how to read. was back when he was in first grade. And, you know, the questions were really great. What does it mean? You know, what does it mean when they can’t read? How is this, you know,

Brittni (23:33.245)

I love that.

lynn greenberg (23:53.025)

Do I have it? Could I have it? I don’t know how to do my ABCs. And it was a very interesting conversation. And I think that’s all you can do is talk and open those doors for people.

Brittni (24:05.858)

I that and I think that it’s so sometimes as parents we can feel flustered when we don’t have the answers and so sometimes we’ll shut down or we feel uncomfortable because maybe we weren’t raised like knowing a lot about neurodivergence but

to open up that communication and say, even if you don’t know a lot, hey, you know what, I don’t know that, let’s research it together and make it not something that we don’t talk about that. Or you open it up and you make it something that you guys can learn on together if you don’t have the answers.

lynn greenberg (24:30.759)

Hmm?

lynn greenberg (24:36.364)

I think that is a terrific approach to taking care of raising young children because I think that’s a better way to make the world a nice place.

Brittni (24:50.166)

Yes. And last question, actually I have two more questions for you, but what advice would you give to parents who have a neurodiverse child, especially those who might be struggling with how to support their child’s unique learning needs?

lynn greenberg (25:06.23)

think every child is different and every community is different. I think it’s very difficult. think it’s important to advocate for your child, but also to really, as I said, listen to the verbal and the nonverbal cues your child is giving you. Someone might say to you, I think we should do X, Y, and Z for your child. At the time when John was little, before he went to the private school and we knew he was dyslexic,

they would pull him out of the classroom and he was mortified. He hated it and he wasn’t going to learn that way. And I think, I think you need to listen to what your child is saying. And if they’re having trouble, go into the school, talk to the people who are working with your child, ask your child what’s making them feel, you know, sad. Whatever the language you have with your child, try to find ways,

Brittni (25:43.925)

Yeah.

lynn greenberg (26:03.925)

to have them open up, to feel safe, to tell you what’s going on.

Brittni (26:08.564)

Yeah, amazing. And then along the lines of that, since he is the youngest of four, I think you said, how was it navigating, maybe they were old enough that they were kind of mature enough to not be mean about it, but did you ever have to navigate like any teasing or anything like that or navigating conversations with your older children?

lynn greenberg (26:15.061)

Yes.

lynn greenberg (26:30.441)

So John, my children are all in their 30s now. John’s in his 20s. So the next one up is eight and then 10 and 12 years older. So in some ways, at first nobody understood. And I think it’s normal. There was a little bit of impatience. But honestly, my children, once we all had an answer, they were absolutely more empathetic.

Brittni (26:41.984)

Okay.

lynn greenberg (26:59.433)

But also, you know, when he was three and my oldest was 15, you know, she’s got her, you know, normal, know, teenage, I’m in high school, you know, that’s my little brother kind of stuff going on. And that’s how the boys were. You know, they were all wonderful and kind to each other, but, you know, it’s different because of the age difference. And now, because we are a really tight family unit,

Brittni (27:05.476)

Yeah.

lynn greenberg (27:28.762)

Everyone, no one pays attention to the age anymore. And my grandchildren, it’s Uncle Johnny. It’s great and he’ll play with them. And my grandson loves to do art and they do Legos together when he’s home. And it’s just, it’s a very, it’s a wonderful thing to see because we really made the effort to try to be a cohesive unit.

Brittni (27:56.446)

Yeah, amazing. Well, thank you so much for being here today. Do you have any last bits of wisdom or any last words that you would like to share with us?

lynn greenberg (28:06.637)

I would just say go with your gut and you know if you have anything you want to share we are on social media platforms as the Creative Cab Company. You can DM me. I would love to hear from you. You can go to our website the Creative Cab Company and you know reach out. There’s a way to to find me. I would love to have that conversation with anyone who feels the need to to ask questions and can’t find answers.

I’m not a licensed therapist, but I’ve navigated quite a few issues. So I’m happy to give you whatever knowledge that I have. So come find me if you would like that.

Brittni (28:47.638)

Perfect, well thank you, yes. And we will link your Instagram and your website below in the show notes. And we will look forward to the next book that the Creative Cab Company will be releasing.

lynn greenberg (29:00.25)

Thank you. And actually we’re about to come out with the Spanish version of Robbie because we wanted other communities to feel seen and heard as well. we’re, yeah. So that’s coming out in the next week or so.

Brittni (29:09.59)

Wow. Okay.

Brittni (29:14.582)

Okay, well we will keep an eye out. My daughter’s bilingual, so we will have to get the Spanish version too. So thank you for sharing that.

lynn greenberg (29:19.632)

Terrific. Wonderful. Well, we’re excited to bring that to bring Robbie, you know, to more people. So thank you. And thank you for having me. John wanted me to say hi.

Brittni (29:29.939)

Yes, of course. Please tell him we said hello and thank you so much for putting such an amazing book into the world and thank you for being here today.

lynn greenberg (29:41.669)

Thank you for having me. This has been wonderful. You too.

Brittni (29:43.744)

Thank you. Have a good day. Bye.