Jim and I can proudly say that we are raising readers.
He and I are both readers.
Some of my fondest memories are of our newly married years. We had our second apartment then. This was our first "together" venture into the suburbs. It was adorable, charming and cozy...meaning small, but consisting of just what we needed. ---A bedroom, galley kitchen, bathroom and living room, which doubled as dining area. Our over sized "L" couched sat snugly in this dual functioning room. We were content on that couch. Jim stretched out across one length and I often curled up against the arm of the opposite side. There were nights spent in complete silence. We weren't angry with one another. We were so in love that speech didn't matter. ---In love with our current books as well.
Why speak...
...when you can read?
Now and again we'd steal a kiss or a glance over a dog eared page.---That was enough. It was magic.
Jumping ahead a decade...
I'm happy to say that the "magic" is there. It's just different.
We are so overwhelmed by the daily happenings of life that "what used to be" rarely happens.
Pleasure reading is done in the bathroom, while on the toilet...if lucky!
I take that back.
I shouldn't have said "pleasure reading."I take great pleasure in reading to my girls.
The word should be SOLO...That's it, SOLO READING. Reading alone for pleasure.
Here I go again, counting myself one of the lucky women club.
I'm not unlucky for of lack of SOLO reading time...
I am lucky because the value of a good book in hand has been passed onto my children.
Oh... how lucky I am!
Addi has told me that her favorite way to end a school day is right beside me. (I'm getting teary thinking about how beautiful this is.)
We each grab our current "read" and head for her bedroom. This is our "big girl time." Quiet moments that we steal together. We lay beside one another...sometimes I read aloud. I just pick up from wherever I left off in my book and she listens. My daughter enjoys stories. She enjoys the written word...any written word. Addi, who is far from an infant still relaxes with the sound of my storytelling. I treasure this.
---I need to travel back in time...
My Mom had bought a pink, touille chair with matching ottoman for Addi when she turned one. This chair has been very well used by all three of her grand daughters.
It is the reading chair.
No matter how many times we moved (and there had been quite a few until we settled in the little green house close to eight years ago)...
... the reading chair has always been placed in a cozy bedroom corner, with proper reading light, night table, cozy rug and hoards of books.
I have multitudes of photos depicting pudgy babies and toddlers with books in hand and looks of determination or awe on their angelic faces, while planted in the reading chair.
Again, I count myself lucky.
Those photos are amongst my treasures.
Here I go...I can't help it.
Here is another one of my lists.
---MY TREASURES---
*My family and friends (I'm in love with them...most of the time)
*Making memories (stuff isn't that important...get out and do something!)
*Art (of any time period...look and learn)
*Music (of any genre...if it makes your body move...dance on!)
*Documentation (literary or visual...journal away! Take photos! Leave your mark...I'll probably keep it!)
*Smiles (I sign most letters as: Smiles, Billie)
*Comfortable sneakers (I don't leave home with out them)
*My camera (it will always be my first "baby")
*Down Time (to do most of the things on this list)
*My Crueby (she is the doll that I carried with me as a little girl. I have had many replacements thanks to my Mom...the survivor Crueby is in my room. She has been cuddled by my girls and scares my husband. He finds her to be freaky.)
I did it again. I had a Mommy, mental moment...Did I stray too far?
I got lost in my own thoughts. Three kids later...this is what happens to the best of us...
Back to books...
All of the girls had brought home books from our last library visit. Chloe's choices were like candy. Automatically appealing to the whole family! Her sisters found them piled on her vanity stool and begged me to read one at bedtime. All three were mythic in theme.
They promised adventure, lovely illustrations and faraway places. Perfect for little Chlo Chlo.
Perfect for all three girls.
Our bedtime ritual includes apples and crackers to snack on, "self" or quiet reading, then a story read by Mom or Dad.
Last night I read East of the Sun and West of the Moon.(tales from the North). The story told was The Godmother.
A young girl was raised by her godmother. The girl is unaware that her loving godmother is the keeper of the sun, the moon and the stars. She accidentally, on separate occasions, disobeys her Godmother's warnings, setting them each free into the wild universe. Her Godmother punishes her by making her the most beautiful woman in the world(I know...doesn't sound bad, just wait) and by taking her voice. Then she banishes her.
The lovely young girl marries a Prince. He does not care that she can not speak. They have a child and the godmother takes him saying,"now you will know how devastating it was for me to lose the Sun." The princess is powerless. The QUEEN BELIEVES THAT SHE HAS KILLED HER CHILD. The Prince defends her. Can you guess what happens? Two more babies..each taken. Prince can't ward the Queen off. Princess is about to be put to death. Godmother appears with the children and states that she wanted her god daughter to suffer the way that she had (evil woman). The beautiful Princess now has her voice. If she had been given her voice back earlier she would have been able to defend herself and tell that she loved her children more than the sun and the moon and the stars. They family is reunited and all ends happily.
My children looked at me curiously. It was magical. Every night I tell my girls that I love them more than the sun and the moon and the stars.
Addi: Did you know about this story before Mom?
Me: No.
Addi: Really?!
Chloe: (was sound asleep)
Gracie: Mommy, it's what you always tell us! That's what you say to us!
Me: I know. This is very a special story. Goodnight girls...I love you more than the...
Grace: We know...more than the sun and the moon and the stars. (smiling)
Me: Forever and ever.
...One more reason to love books.
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