read to my daughter every day

Dad and Neem have started the series from book 1. Reading a chapter a night until the series is done. Since hubby has taken on this goal for a nice little stretch I am marking it as done.

I may have to expand on this goal to include reading with by son as well. We recently read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Our reading works a little different. We both will check out a copy of the same book from the library. We set up a cozy reading spot somewhere in the house (usually my bed),read the chapters silently and have open discussions as we go along. I am impressed with his level of social consciousness. I am also discovering that he was paying attention growing up. Cool! I feel so blessed to have this time with him. It doesn’t conflict with Neema’s time because she likes her book time right before bed,where Ebon likes his in the late afternoon. I am going to buy candles to light and add ambiance(he has always loved candles, Neema just wants to play in the wax). At 15 I feel that if I am able to give him the gift of social awareness then much of my job is done. I am so glad that he is willing to look beyond the superficial and make his own decisions. If anyone has any suggestions on good mother/son reads that will spark a great discussion I would appreciate them. I think our next book will be The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.( I hope I got the name right)

We are having a great time with the daily reading. It has gone from something that we do before bed to something we do during the day as well. It has sprouted off into discussions on all sorts of things. I love the books that reccomend other books and authors. Through the power of suggestion Neem has developed an interest in the middle ages, the true meaning of the American Thanksgiving and the Civil Rights Movement. We are on our way to the library sometime today so that she can find some books on the topics that interest her. This is soooo cool. If I had brought this up on my own I would have met some resistence.

Sometimes life is crazy and I really just want to hit the sack when we get home after a long day. Neema looks at me with those big puppy dog eyes to let me know I am forgetting something. I invite her into my room she climbs up and we read. Her interest are starting to diversify and it’s become our time to catch up on things as well. This is really developing into a nightly ritual, Complete with a cup of tea and conversation before the story. I am in awe of how quickly we settled into this. My husband will often lie down beside us and listen in. The grin on Neem’s face is priceless as she reads to us. Sometimes we can’t understand her because she is smiling too hard. I really need times like this to remind of what it’s all about.

My daughter Neema is 9 years old and we used to read together all the time. Now that she is older and more independent this had become a luxury. That is why I decided to commit to reading to her every night before bed like we once did before she could read. I wasn’t sure how she would take to this since she is quite offended when she thinks I am insinuating that she’s a baby.
So I started with something I knew she once loved when she was little and would bring laughs for both of us, Superfudge by Judy Blume. We had a great time and read a chapter a night. Sometimes she read to me and that made it even cooler. Now 3 books later we have delved into The Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger. I sometimes find her going over a chapter or 2 earlier in the day so she can be prepared to read it to me at night. We still take turns reading and laughing and making jokes. It’s really alot of fun.
The best part is her telling me she likes the reading because of the time we spend together. This is one of those goals that I never want to be done with. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table in highschool reading Macbeth to my mother as she cooked dinner. I only hope my daughter( and my 15 yr old son) will be so inclined to do the same. It would be both an honor and a priviledge I would truly enjoy.

Even in utero, I had my husband read a story a day. I read our daughter a story before bedtime at night. These days, during the day, I read her some stories before her nap time.

this goal is not really completed. One can never read too many stories to children. Actually, that’s not true. I had forgotten how horrific Hansel and Gretel was:

Honey, take the kids and dump them in the woods so that we can have the food for ourselves.

No, hon, I just don’t feel right about that . . . Oh, well, if you insist.

Oh, look hon, the kids came back. What’s that you say? Abandon them in the woods again so that they can die slowly of starvation? Sigh. I sure do love them, but whatever you wish, dear.

Miraculously, the children make it back once more, after burning a cannibalistic witch to death. Luckily, Mommy is dead and Daddy, the henpecked, p-whipped traitor, rejoices to have them back. They live happily ever after.

WHAT THE HELL?