Let Me Introduce You To Alice
When you’re pregnant, especially with your first, you dream of all those “first” introductions. Experiences you can’t wait to share with this new little person. For David, it was “Star Wars” and indeed I think it has more than lived up to his expectations. His 2 year old son wants to be Darth Maul for Halloween — I think the introduction was a success. For me, it was “Alice in Wonderland”.
Lucy and I started reading chapter books this week and as I was putting her to bed tonight she asked if we could start “Alice in Wonderland”. I hesitated. Was she ready? Would she be bored? Would she understand and relate to Alice’s wonderfully contradictory personality. Alice is both logical and fanciful, a pragmatist and a dreamer. I LOVE that about Alice. Lucy and I snuggled into bed and as the soft glow from her sunflower lamp spread over our shoulders I opened the red cover of the book and we jumped down the rabbit hole. As we slowly made our way to the end of chapter 1 Lucy turned to me and with a crooked smile said, “I can’t wait to find out what happens tomorrow.” Yes Lucy, me too. I can’t wait for you to travel to all those wonderful places I’ve been in my imagination, to meet all those wonderful characters I’ve met. I want to introduce you to “Anne of Green Gables” and “Mary Poppins” and “Harry Potter”. Won’t it be lovely? And when you return from your journeys you’ll know. You’ll know all the things that I could never explain – the feelings, emotions, people, experiences — the words. The beautiful words spread out on the page, one after another inviting you to continue. And hopefully, like me, your love affair with books will start with Alice.
A Day In The Life Of A Bibliophile
As a service to family members who might be living with a bibliophile I thought it might be a good idea to describe what a typical day might look like. These people need your help for they surely do have an addiction.
7:30 AM: I wake up and my first thought is about my new book. How many pages can I read before the kids wake up?
8:00 AM: I was able to squeeze in ten more pages while I made breakfast. Thank goodness the toaster is slow
9:00 AM: Kids are watching cartoons. I’m going to sneak into my bedroom and see if I can get one more chapter read before they realize I’m not in the room.
9:45 AM: I decide to take the kids to the park. I figure they can play and I can read. Best of both worlds.
11:00 AM: I got one more chapter read but the kids didn’t want to play because some little boy was following Lucy. AARRGH! It’s almost nap time. I just need to get them through lunch. No food in the house, need to stop at store first.
2:00 PM: I fed the kids and they are down for nap. If I’m lucky I can get two hours of reading done.
6:00 PM: David just called to say he’s on his way home from work. REALLY? I haven’t put the groceries away, done the breakfast or lunch dishes, or cleaned up toys. Where are the kids?
7:00 PM: I was able to squeeze one more chapter in as I cooked dinner. I’m so close to the end now that surely I can finish this book tonight.
7:25 PM: I’m going to bathe the kids so I can read in the bathroom
8:45 PM: Kids are in bed. I’m almost done now.
9:45 PM: Finished “New Moon”. Wow. David horrified that I read 600 pages in 24 hours. I wonder if I’ll have time to stop at the bookstore tomorrow?
To Thy Ownself Be True
The kids are back at gymnastics and they are both LOVING it. Unlike our past experience – where Max cried almost the entire time – he is now engaged and giggling. And like everything else my kids do, their differences become very pronounced during these lessons.
Lucy
She is in a class for pre-schoolers with about 5 other little girls and 1 boy. She rarely smiles. She listens intensely and with purpose. She follows every instruction given to her down to the last period. She ALWAYS follows the single-file line and ALWAYS waits her turn. Today after class I had this conversation with her coach:
Coach: Lucy is doing very well and I think she’ll be ready to move up into the next class in about 4 more weeks.
Me: Great, she seems to really enjoy herself
Coach: She is a VERY good listener which makes it so much easier
Me: (whispering so I don’t embarrass Lucy) she is quite the rule follower
Coach: YES, I noticed that.
Yes, that is my daughter, the rule-follower.
Max
He loves gymnastics and approaches every activity with gusto. He throws himself onto the trampoline. He follows instructions only after being asked at least 6 times. He rarely notices that we have a coach. The coach says “straddle position” and Max does pike. Coach says “tuck position” and Max does straddle. His favorite part of the entire lesson is at the end when all the kids get to “race” which just means they get to run from one end of the gym to the other and then turn around and do it again. I sit at one end of the gym and the coach sits at the other. Max runs as fast as he can and then flings his arms around my neck and collapses into a hug – having NEVER slowed down. Most of the time he knocks me over. Within five minutes of even being at the gym his hair is wet with sweat and he’s rolling on the floor out of joy. To say Max is enthusiastic would be an understatment.
Now, if I could somehow get them to rub off on each other everything would be just fine.
