Okay, I Do Miss This

I look younger when I read.

I am a reader. I'm reading practically from the moment I get up until the moment I fall asleep, and my idea of heaven replaces the streets of gold with stacks of endlessly fascinating books.

It's no wonder the Boys learned early on that the best way to avoid punishment for misbehavior was to distract me with the shiny temptation of reading.

"All right, who put the waffle in the VCR? And why is syrup dripping down the front of the entertainment center?"

"Mommy? Wead me a book?"

"Why, of course, my precious snookums!"

I especially enjoyed reading to the boys at bedtime. That's when we got into chapter books. The Little House series. The Littles series. The Indian in the Cupboard series.Captain Underpants. (What? I had Boys.) Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. The Wrinkle in Time series. We read, and read, and read, and still didn't get through my favorites from my own childhood. Oh, the hours I spent racing through The Black Stallion series and My Friend Flicka.

The last book I read to the boys was the final Harry Potter book, and if you subtract when that series ended from how old the Boys are now, you'll realize they all were well into (or through) high school at that point. They were more than capable of reading on their own, but there is something about  reading aloud that made it the ritual I was perhaps most reluctant to relinquish as my children grew up. 

A couple of weeks ago I accidentally downloaded The Hunger Games on my Nook. I didn't realize it was juvenile fiction until I was hooked: Within a few pages I found myself back in my childhood, when I couldn't wait to finish my chores so I could read. I stayed up way too late to finish the gripping story of the valiant Katniss and the noble Peeta, only to find...it's a series! Oh, no!

So today I was at the library checking out the second and third books in the series, and this weekend, even though I have no child to read to, I will be reading children's books. 

As they arrive home on spring break, this would be an excellent opportunity for the boys to let me know about any bad grades they may have been trying to hide. And then asking me to read to them.