What Days This Summer Taste Like

Do you ever have those moments when you wish you could snap your fingers and instantly record exactly what was happening?  I had two of those this week and I have to write them down before they become part of the blur that characterizes my child-rearing years.

The first moment involved Nicholas, my middle son.  I wrote last summer about his reluctance to swim and the breakthrough he had when he finally learned to dunk his head under the water and swim with a flotation device.  Due to a relatively cool June, our pool time hasn't been very consistent, but the last couple of weeks have given us the chance to get into our morning pool ritual.  After a few days, Nicholas asked me, "Why can't I swim yet?" I reminded him that he had refused for the last two summers to allow me to teach him.  "Are you ready to learn now?" I asked.  He definitely was.  After a few minutes practicing kicks at the side of the pool and reminding him to make his arms like big spaghetti spoons, he was ready to try.  He pushed off from the pool's steps, and with that, he was swimming!  Just a few feet at first, but by the end of the hour, he was really getting the hang of it.  Only three days later, he is jumping into the deep end and swimming to the sides all on his own. He still needs to keep practicing and improving, but he is now a swimmer.  On that first day, he looked at me with his wet, shaggy hair falling across his eyes and a smile that could not get any wider and said, "I am so proud of myself!"  My heart must have tripled in size. After years of watching him wrestle with the desire to dive in and the fear that held him back, I couldn't help but have a few tears fall as he reveled in his success.

The second moment this week happened just a couple of hours ago.  I was reading to the boys from Because of Winn-Dixie by Katie DiCamillo, a book none of us has read before.  We haven't even seen the movie, so each night's reading is a fresh experience for all of us.  After a few chapters, particularly sorrow-filled chapters, I finished up and went to kiss my oldest son good night.  He said, "Mom, I think I might be too sad to fall asleep."  It isn't out of character for Michael to be strongly impacted by the situations in a book or movie; in fact, it happens regularly, but tonight, I asked him, "Do you know why it is good for us to read stories even though they make us sad?"  He shook his head and I continued, "Because when we read what other people go through, even thought it is hard and might make us sad, it makes us better able to love people in real life because we understand them better.  Reading stories that make us feel helps us be better people.  Does that make sense?" He understood and we chatted in whispers a bit more about how books do this.  Michael is a challenging boy, but his heart is about as tender as it could be.  I told him that if we keep reading books together, the things he struggles with will become easier to control.  That boy's sleepy eyes and soft smile made me want to lay down right next to him so we could fall into dreams together.  Alas, laundry beckoned and so I sang him a requested lullaby, turned out the lights and left the room where my three boys lay fast asleep.

Funny how the chapters we read in Because of Winn-Dixie tonight were the ones about the candy made with sweetness and sorrow.  Root beer, strawberry and melancholy all swirled together-- I know exactly what that tastes like.

PS: I didn't mean to ignore Lucas in this post; I'm sure I will share a story about his antics/poignant moments this summer soon!

Books-n-Boys: Library Day

I envision Library Day as a peaceful immersion into the fascinating world of children's literature.  I envision my sons and I wading through the books with calm even strokes, enjoying the feel of them between our fingers, until we forget that time is passing.  And then, the perfect tale will catch our eyes and we will swim toward it and float upon the joy of our discovery. I envision leaving the library with a satisfaction that I can feel in my lungs and muscles.  I envision this, but Library Day is not like this at all.  Instead, my boys race ahead of me and dive head first into the stacks, splashing chapter books and graphic novels all over the floor.  I can hardly keep them all in my sight as they dip in and out of the aisles.  Before I can even get used to the change in temperature, they are making their way to the checkout counter.  When we leave, the only thing I feel in my lungs is the makings of an enormous sigh.

But, I look forward to Library Day every week and so do the boys.

Today we returned a book I loved, Pete & Pickles by Berkeley Breathed, most famous for his comic strips, Bloom County and Outlands.The cover wooed me with a tiny pig playing gondolier atop the belly of an elephant. The story was incredibly touching without being sappy -- the pig and the elephant are an unlikely, unplanned pair who end up breathing life into each other.  Not only was the story wonderful, the illustrations were their own special delight.  Famous works provide the inspiration for many of the pages and the art becomes as engaging as the characters.

Nicholas is on a Geronimo Stilton kick and checked out three new Stilton books today. We were first introduced to Geronimo when we received an audio version on CD of The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid (Geronimo Stilton, No. 2) as part of a Chik-Fil-A kid's meal.  When we started reading the books ourselves, we loved the fun fonts used throughout the book and the humorous illustrations.  The books also have maps, factual reports and other expository materials that enhance the story.  Nicholas sometimes has me read the books to him and sometimes he "reads" them on his own.  They are really above his reading level, but because of the styled fonts, the colorful pictures and the additional info I mentioned, he feels like he is reading on his own.  I think this is a great sign, actually, because it shows that he is willing to go beyond his comfort zone and push himself into an area that is a bit too advanced.  He isn't discouraged by it at all, evidenced by the three books that made today's cut.


We should finish James and the Giant Peach this week (only a few chapters to go) and then we will begin The Phantom Tollbooth (the boys have been more receptive to it since we received it as a gift from someone we like).  I am looking forward to seeing how they let James go and let Milo in.

Until the next Books-n-Boys,

Books-n-Boys

One of the new features I will be working on this summer is a chronicle of the reading experiences I have with the boys.  We usually read together at bedtime and while we sometimes choose short children's books, we often read several chapters of a novel.  I've blogged about this before, but now I am interested in blogging through our reading adventures.

Yesterday, we went to the bookstore to buy our first novel of the summer.  I suggested we choose three books, then vote on which one we would buy.  Michael selected Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.  I selected The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.  We sat on the floor in the children's section and I read the back of each book to the boys.  They all voted for James and the Giant Peach.  I am fairly certain it is because Michael loves all that is Roald Dahl and because the boys had seen the movie. I was hoping for The Phantom Tollbooth because I have fond memories of it from elementary school, but I think i will have to keep talking it up before the boys will be ready to select it.

Even though my entry had not been selected, as we settled down for reading time before bed, I was eager to begin.  I have never read James, nor seen the movie, so the story is completely new to me.  The first few chapters, however, proved to be a bit different than what I expected.  The protagonist loses his family, and begins a miserable life with his abusive aunts.  In fact, the first two chapters were so troublesome that I made myself read a few more even though my eyes began to sting in hopes of closing our reading time on a less disturbing note.  The boys even asked me to sing them a few lullabies to help their brains focus on sweeter stuff as they fell into slumber.


Tonight, I thought the boys might be less eager for reading time because of the nature of the novel's opening.  As bedtime neared, I gave them the option of one more episode of The Upside-Down Show or getting into bed for reading time.  To my surprise, they unanimously chose reading time and without delay clicked off the TV and headed for their bedroom.  The reading tonight was not much more uplifting, but the boys are totally engaged in the saga of poor James and I am quite certain they will rush off to bed tomorrow night to hear more about the peach which is beginning to bulge at the top of the tree.

My boys often do the opposite of what I expect, but this time, I was pleased by it.  Michael said the reason they still wanted to hear the story even though it started of with such sad details is because they like to see justice done in the end.  I can't guarantee that it will be, in the book or in their lives, but it gives me some peace of mind to know that he feels that is how the world should work.

This time we spend reading together not only fills our minds with stories about  the lives of others, it gives us a greater understanding of each other and an opportunity to share a vision of the world.  Who knew a peach could do so much? [I'm guessing the peach is going to do more than I could imagine, actually :)]