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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Happily Ever After

Disclaimer: This post is not my Twhylight review. Sorry to disappoint. It's just a tender little story about a boy, who I happened to give birth to, and his library card.

Before I dragged my hub to St. George on Saturday, I took my youngest son (one minute younger than my other youngest son) to the public library. But I didn't have to drag him. He had to drag me.

Actually that's a lie. I was in the car wiping my sweaty eyeballs with a Kleenex before he even finished telling me he wanted his own library card.

Oh my goodness, can I just say publicly that it was the happiest day of my life. How can I describe the straight, pure joy of spending the afternoon at the public library with my boy--special emphasis on BOY.

I've tried and tried to get my boys hooked on phonics, but to no avail. They've all limped along reluctantly when it comes to reading. And this particular boy tested low on his GATES test so many times that one of his reading teachers actually told me he was driving her crazy. Of course I had to poke her eyes out after that. And then I had to poke my own eyes out.

Alls I wanted was boys who lubbed books. Was that too much to ask for? But they lubbed balls. And pogs. And chickens.

I read to them every night because that's what the experts said. Read to your child on a regular basis and he will grow up to lub books. I read and read and read--Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and Franny K. Stein and Hatchet and all those yawner Magic Tree House books and The Baseball Card Adventure books.

I read every Shel Silverstein book on the planet because that's what the experts said to do. Read rhymes to your child and they will learn to read more rapidly, so nursery rhymes and the Stinky Cheese books and Dr. Seuss lined our shelves.

I made them read the Book of Mormon each day because isn't it documented fact that kids who read the BOM learn to read faster than kids who don't? (That's what my mom says.)

I paid them to read. I bribed them to read. I SCREAMED them to read. And still they didn't read.

And then Percy Jackson came along. My youngest boy (by a minute) only has two chapters left of the fourth book. He keeps a flashlight hidden under his pillow and at night, after I turn out the lights, I peek in and see a little light on under his covers.

I'm verklempt just thinking about it.

And I'm verklempt just thinking about his face when we pulled into the library parking lot on Saturday.

"Wow! This is the library?" he said.

Once inside I didn't hover or make suggestions, I just let him roam free.

Oh, he was such a cutie patootie. Especially when he pulled a book off the shelf and said, "Is there a place here where I can just sit down and read?" And so he found a little table and he sat down and he read. My heart was grinning from ear to ear as I slipped off to the adult section to look for all the books on my own list. The only one checked in was The Wednesday Letters, but I found some Paulo Coelho and some Anne Tyler to keep me from getting bored of my hub in St. George.

When I returned, my cutie patootie was sitting at the computer typing in Stormbreaker. He went and found it on the shelf, then he was back at the computer again, this time typing in Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites.

"My friend says I'll like this book," he told me.

Sigh!

He checked out three books and on our way out of the library he hit me with a snowball, then climbed in the car and asked, "Can I walk here?"

Then he opened Stormbreaker and read it all the way home.

And then he lived happily ever after.

The End

23 comments:

I am LoW said...

Ah man!! I hear ya!! I totally get ya!! I remember those days, worryin' about my son reading. I know what you mean and YAAAAY!!!

For my oldest it was Where the Red Fern Grows piggy backed with Harry Potter that did it. YAY!!

Nolan was devouring books by 1st grade. But nothing about that boy is typical. :)

I am LoW said...

I WAS FIRST!!!!!!!!

springrose said...

My 3rd grader is finally starting to get hooked. She loves to be read to but to read to herslef it has taken a while! I love, LOVE to read. I had a hard time with reading at first. (When I was in 1-3rd grade) Then all of a sudden in 4th grade I took off and was no longer in remedial english/reading, but in the accelerated reading group! That was such a moral boost for me. Now I can't live a week with out picking up a book. When we go on vacation my Hubby and I read about 5 books between the two of us. Were nerds like that!

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

I hope you are able to get him to stop reading long enough to eat, socialize and take care of his hygeine after reading more stinky cheese in Nephite tennis shoes.

Congrats!

The Songer said...

awesome! totally happy for that boy... take him to slc downtown libray.. i use to think that library was magical!

I recently found out that my kid (#2) was lying on her reading log for school... her punishment has been to sit and read to the two year old... its hilarious because she says she hates it.. but while reading to the two year she does all the voices and has her laughing!

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

That is such a sweet story. I haven't manage to get any of my kids hooked on phonics either. But I have not been as diligent as you, so I can totally blame myself. And I do beleive you me. But oh well.

katie said...

since i am in class when your 2 youngest go to their "quiet reading places" to read....I LOVE THIS STORY!!!

and for the record, they have some great boys in their class who LOVE to read. boys who at first glance, you'd never think would be book lovers, but they are and it makes my heart sing....since i lub to read too!

have i said it to you enough times....that I LOVE YOUR BOYS!?!?!
you are a lucky mom but they are even luckier boys to have you as their mom! (ps...don't be surprised when i come knocking on your door to pull some old school for fun rebellious toilet paper job to someone in our stomping grounds!?!) jk...or am i???
hmmmm.....

:)

Paily said...

That was so great! Yeah for reading! Although, I must admit, when I was 10 I was totally obsessed with pogs. They are pretty great!

Sandi said...

that was the best story ever.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Kaite, say what? We're going tp-ing? Wahoo! You really do have hot wheels! BTW, I saw your blog and I can't believe how cool you are--how you ski and bowl and you're way more physically active than me. And you look way better in a bikini. I have no doubt you could tp. I will need photographic evidence of course, for the blog.

Paily, you loved pogs too? Too bad you're not one of my kids.

Iwa, love the punishment. I'm totally on board with productive punishments. I am now making my kids say 5 nice things about the sibling they beat up.

Oh LoW, that Nolan!

Thanks ya'll for sharing in my successes and failures! You da bomb(s)!

P.S. I'm on page 326. 174 pages to go!

April said...

What did I miss? I just saved myself from drowning. I thought I saw a Dummy and a guy with snowman pajamas drowning too...but I guess it was just my imagination. So what have you been up to Crash? Reading books? :)

Martha said...

Maybe this is why you moved to Utah. Since it's cold the kids might as well learn how to read.

Ok, mission accomplished, you can come back now.

I'm hoping reading will come next for Jim. But right now he's into listening, and he is the best listener in the world!! We now have all 6 Percy Jackson audio books. I put them on an Ipod and he listened to all of book 5 yesterday. Yes, it took like 4 1/2 hours. It was so nice to have him quiet and not complaining about anything for once. Do you think this will help his reading? I'm hoping.

Unknown said...

If I could only take one thing to an island in the middle of the ocean, I'd take books.

Thankfully my boy loves books like I love books (he's big into the Treehouse series). When we saw the library here in NoWheresVille we both got so excited. It's like - enormous! The closest one isn't even the biggest either. I'm pretty excited. I'm actually due to pick up a book there today.

Reading rocks. I'm glad your boy has found it!

Amber Lynae said...

I think my eye balls would be sweating too. I hope my Little Princess will grow up lubbing books. I know she does now. So I hope I can keep that love as she grows taller.

Braden Bell said...

Yayyyyy!!!!! Hooray for Percy Jackson. I have to say that I really quite enjoyed those books myself. They made a recovery from surgery much more enjoyable and the crazy stuff that happened fit in well with my Lortab induced hallucinations.

I wonder if the books would be as good without the Lortab?

Barbaloot said...

You should talk to my mother. She's still bitter at me for all the times we got in the car and I "shut her out" with whatever book I happened to be reading then. She should be grateful I was such a huge nerd, right?

The Crash Test Dummy said...

April, I hear we just missed the weather in St. George. You guys got 3/4 inch of rain, yea? I couldn't believe how green it was when we were there. I've never seen it like that. It was very bee-U-tiful, especially those mountain/hills behind your neck of the woods. And you've got popcorn popping on some of your trees.

Martha, YAY for Jimmy. Wait, aren't there only 5 books? So he's finished? Wow! That's awesome. I think listening definitely leads to reading. That's what the experts say. ;)

I had a dream last night that we moved back. We were in TVA, but our apt was really spacious. It was so real, the humidity and the palm tree and the bugs. We were right on the ocean and we had a huge window looking out over the beach, but we had the share the apt. with the Ors. haha I was just about to call you and tell you We're BACK but then an ENORMOUS wave formed and came right at me and just wiped out my living room. Then another and another and another wave came. I was like "Oh, GAD, now we have to get new carpet! And BYU-H will take FOREVA getting it installed. So we moved back to Utah.

Weird.

Blogging Mama, ARe you all getting settled in? YAY for cool libraries. And Amber, YAY for books!

Braden, ha ha I'm quite sure Lortab enhanced your reading pleasure. Maybe I should get me some Lortab to finish Twhylight. It's so true that you enjoy a book based on what you're doing, where you're at in your life and what book you read right before it. It's all context. I don't hate Twhylight, but I think I would enjoy it more if I was in love. Or if I wanted to be in love. Or is I wasn't an English teacher/editor/writer. (such a curse sometimes, being an old bitty).

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Barb, I hear YOU! I HEAR YOU! I got scolded a few times for being such a bookworm.

Martha said...

There's 6 books darling. Funny dream. I had a scary dream the other night so Perry's wondering if it's a sign we shouldn't buy this house. Call me and I'll tell you all about it.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Wait, Martha did you just call me darling? Okay, well sweetie, I'm pretty sure there's only five books. Maybe the audio books got split or something. DOUBLE CHECK would ya?

Do tell about your dream.

Sandi said...

tee hee.

LiafromLaie said...

WHOO HOOO for reading! I love it when the younger generation decides that reading isn't half bad :)

Martha said...

Well, I guess the Demigod files I'm counting as book 6.