It's 8:30, and the kids are still asleep. Wednesday nights are hard on them. We don't get home from church until nine, and even though I've fed them before we left, once we got there, and had a snack in the car, they're still hungry when we get home. You've seen how thin they are. That's pure metabolism at work, there. Metabolism with a skin and hair covering. So Zorak has supper (second supper? tensies?) ready when we pull in and it's after ten by the time they get tucked into bed. The funny thing is that even when they can't keep their eyes open, they're shocked if we try to skip bedtime reading. "Wha--? We can't have a story? We can't have our reading minutes? What?!? WHYYYYYYYYY???" Zorak and I stand there quietly, praying they'll just. go. to. sleep. But no, they need their books. This would be my genetic contribution to the next generation: willingness to forego sleep, nutrition, and sunlight in order to be able to read a good book. Not high on the Survival Qualities Scale, but thankfully Zorak had enough input on that end, so I think they'll be okay.
I'm trying to find a good read aloud right now. John wants me to start over with The Chronicles of Narnia. Smidge wants me to read Farmer Boy again. James doesn't care what I read, as long as I'll quit losing his bookmark in whatever he's reading. I've got to be honest, I'm not up for starting either of the ones mentioned over again just yet. I'd like to leave at least a year between Narnia readings, so the children can hear them with a fresh perspective each time. Back-to-back seems a little much. And I have no idea why Smidge fell in love with Farmer Boy, but he did. He really loves that book. He even took it from the boys' room and put it on his bookshelf. I'm slogging my way through The Hobbit with them again, to stall for time, but I think this weekend I'm going to peruse my favorite lists and see if I can find something. Plus, the latest Dover catalog came in. There's always something good in there!
And on that note, I'm going to see if I can slip in some of my study time before they wake up (famished, no doubt) and start the day.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
11 comments:
What about Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles? My boys all loved those. Stuart Little? Henry Reed, Inc., or Henry Reed's Babysitting? (Both by Keith Robertson.) If you can find it, The Cat and Mrs. Cary by Doris Gates. Another good one that your boys might like - again, mine all did! - is Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink.
For another series, how about all 12 of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books, or the 5 Borrowers books by Mary Norton?
Sorry, didn't mean to get carried away there - I'm off to see the dentist....
Aren't they funny, the way they want you to read the same books over and over? We finished Holes, and T. wanted me to read it again, next day. I told him he could read it himself, but apparently it isn't the same thing. We are also reading through the Hobbit again. And The Complete Pooh, again. I have several things I'd like to read them next (Little House on the Prairie, Misty of Chincoteague, Alice in Wonderland), but I was wondering if your lists are online, and if you might provide links? I love lists!
Ah, we're between read-alouds, too, and the kids have been nagging, I mean, asking when we're going to start another. I'm not up for rereading anything right now myself, so I, too, have to find something new. There must be something good around here somewhere...
OH, Laura, I wish we lived just a little closer! I could bring you yarn, and you could keep me on my toes with great book ideas! (It's better over coffee, rather than online. Well, and it's difficult to send yarn through the USB ports.) Thank you. I've heard bits here and there about the Prydain books. Pretty good? James is nearly done w/ Harry Potter (Book 1), and he's chomping at the bit to get the next one. John, in the meantime, is begging me to read HP to HIM. I wanted to hold off until he could read it on his own - I don't know. I might cave.
Melora, evidently, you're right, it isn't the same thing to read it themselves. I wish I knew why. lol! But can I tell you how relieved I am that it's not just *my* kids who do things like that? (Things I would call "weird" when my children do them, but not if someone else's kids do them, b/c that would be calling your kids weird, and they're not. And, by association, neither are mine. Um, now.) Anyway, *ahem*, my lists are scattered hither and yon. I keep hoping KathyJo will take serious pity on me and provide me with a complete master list of Good Ideas For When You're Too Brain-Tired To Think For Yourself. (Catchy title, huh?) So far, she hasn't taken the hint. Or she's waiting for someone to make *her* a list first. Not sure.
Jennie, dig deep! Dig, woman! You've got to have something. And when you find it, you've got to come tell us. Because we're stalling, here, waiting for you. ;-)
Dy
Our boys are really into knights right now so we are reading Men of Iron by Pyle. I heartily second Swallows and Amazons (Once I got past snickering about one of the characters very-outdated-and-now-a-rude-slang-term name, it was a great read). We LOVED the first book. Another one that I know you would enjoy is Secret of the Woods by Long. You can read it online here:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/youth/adventure/SecretoftheWoods/Chap0.html
We loved it so much we ordered through Amazon. As a kid I loved How to Eat Fried Worms and read it over and over. I can't wait to share this with the boys, too. Haven't seen the movie and don't care too, either.
Hmmm, we're actually between read-alouds too, having also read Narnia lots of times, and Farmer Boy recently. Nathan enjoyed the Pyrdain series quite a bit. I actually picked up Baby Island at a thrift store a while back, but I forgot I had it until I saw it mentioned by Laura--maybe we'll do that one! I've not been real inspired to find something lately, so I'm glad for this post and these comments!
Ah, yes, Farmer Boy. I remember it well because of all of the wonderful meals that Mrs.Wilder cooked. It never failed, with every chapter I had to take a break to prepare a snack because "Almanzo got to eat good food, why can't we?"
*Sigh*
I've really got to stop feeding them poison.
:-)
Laney
I haven't read it yet, but my good friend is reading her 5yo son Aragon, and they're both really enjoying it! She said she wished she'd read it before seeing the movie, but they're really like two different stories with concidental titles.
Blake is 8 and he loved How to Eat Fried Worms. He also loves the Harry Potter books. He is like that also at bedtime, no matter how tired he is, he still wants to read and he loves to read to me.
Terry Pratchett has a cute set for kids called The Bromeliad Trilogy- Truckers, Diggers, and Wings.
Dot
We are reading the Peter Pan sequels and really enjoying them.
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