Reading to Your Kids

I loved reading to my kids.  Starting before they were born, I would read to them.

I read them everything I could get ahold of.  Textbooks, Dave Barry, Dr. Seuss.  When our oldest one was a wee little one with colic, the one thing that could calm him down was the sound of us reading out loud to him.  He would scream and scream, and one of us would pick him up, snuggle him up close and read the exploits of Dr. Seuss or Dave Barry.

As he got older, he eagerly awaited our weekly trip to the library.  He learned to count early because we would limit him to 20 books a week.  I'd sit on the floor of the library with my basket, and count books with him.  There were a couple of times when he'd sit and look closely between two or three books until he could find the one book that he liked the best to make 20. 

Some of my favorite preschool memories involve trips to the library.  I enjoyed picking out new books and reading new books almost as much as the kids did.  I have a Longaberger Medium sized market basket that used to go to the library with us each week.  It was the perfect size.  All of our books would fit in there.  The kids picture books would fit in spine up, with all of the bright titles shining out at us.  When the books weren't being read, they lived in the basket so that we could keep track of them between library trips.

I have to admit, we lost a few books over the years.  We've paid "rental" on several books that were late.  But the cost of those fines and replacement fees pales in comparision to the knowledge that my kids are active readers.  And I have 2 boys.  Boys are known for being reluctant readers, and yet they both love to read.

Why?  Because we set the stage early.  Reading was something we did as a family.  It brought us great joy.  We spent time together, looking at books, snuggling our children, and exploring new worlds together.

The boys did love to read non-fiction.  I do not.  So, we'd save the non-fiction books for when Daddy got home, and in the evenings, he'd sit and read endlessly from "The Animal Encyclopedia"  or "The Way Things Work" or "The New Book of Knowledge".  And, I'd sit there close beside them, listening with glazed eyes while the kids asked questions and Dad would go into infinite detail about say, how a screw worked.  And then, he'd get out his toolbox, a few screws, some wood, and a screwdriver, and they'd sit around putting screws into wood for half an hour before bedtime, all the while talking about where you'd use screws, and why you'd use screws instead of nails in certain situations...

I guess we didn't do all bad.  The oldest one graduated with a 4.0 and is double majoring in Physics and Math.  The middle one has something around a 3.5, and is an avid reader of business books and journals (and yes, he is Dyslexic, too.)  And our daughter has close to a 3.8.

I bring this up because I saw an article on CNN this morning that says something I think most of us already know  "It's the parent's job -- not the schools -- to find the books to get your kids reading and keep them reading".  http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/opinion/patterson-kids-reading/index.html accessed 9/29/2011. 

We as parents truly are our child's first and most important teachers.  What we show and model to our children is what they will live.  I know, it's frightening to think, isn't it?  They are such little mirrors of us and what we do.... 

And giving them a love of reading, which gives them the power to unlock doors, find out more, and make new discoveries?  To give them the curiosity to ask questions and find out why things are the way they are and work the way they do and see if they can understand it better, or make it work better?

I think that's the greatest gift that we can give to our children.

What Enthusiasm?

I was tx the other day, and saw a wonderful commercial with young children running with abandon through the house.

So, what happens to that abandon as we grow older?

I just watched my two teenagers leave the house.  Heads down, dragging their feet, they walked out the door and down the hill to the bus stop.  I remember 10 or so years ago, when they used to race each other to the bus stop first thing every morning. 

The joy in watching the bus pull up to the corner was only matched by the excitement in their faces as they got onto the bus, looked at me out the window with big smiles on their faces and waved enthusiastically as the bus pulled away.

Now, I'm not allowed to go to the bus stop in the morning.   I am told to stay here at home, and not even allowed to kiss and hug them before they leave.

Our college age son was home on Saturday.  He was happy beyond words when we picked him up, and chatted incessantly.  We dropped him off Saturday evening.  He got out of the car, his eyes alight with excitement.  He ran across the street, ran up the steps to his dorm, turned and waved to us enthusiastically and then went inside.

Okay, so the excitement is there, but it leads to a rather disturbing question:  was it always there and we just missed it?  Or is it just that he's thrilled to be away from us?

I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

College Move In

Today is the big day.  We moved our oldest child into college, and we managed to make it home again before Hurricane Irene began to dump serious amounts of rain on us. 

I remember his first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday.  The confusion, the lines of excited parents and children, and the very confused siblings.  Our daughter was 1 1/2 when the oldest one started kindergarten, and she was standing next to her brother, holding his hand up until he walked into the door.  She was very, very upset that we would not let her follow him into the kindergarten classroom.

This morning was amazing.  The same experience; excited parents and children, lots of chaos, and some very confused siblings. 

We moved after our son finished 6th grade, as did several of our friends.  We had some amazing people that we had lost contact with over the last couple of years with the stress of raising teenagers.

And here's the amazing part:  My son's best friends from that time in his life are also attending the same University with him.  They are all in the same dorm.  They are all on the same floor.  We saw the parents in the dining hall at lunch time, and it was like old home week!  It was wonderful. 

The boys all slunk off while we crowded around the middle of the dining hall, hugging each other and shaking hands. 

As I started to walk off with our second child, he was stopped by several kids that he's met at the regional robotics tournaments over the last couple of years.  They were all like "hey, how's it goin'??" And doing that weird handshake that they do,  and then he introduced those kids to his brother, who will be the student there this fall.

Move in was amazingly smooth, and textbooks were purchased within 20 minutes of walking in the door of the bookstore.  We left at 1:00, just as the first of the weather was arriving.  We got home safe and sound a little while later, and I'm sitting here now, listening to the rain pound down on the house. 

I still have mixed emotions about him going off to college, but I feel much better knowing that he already knows several kids before classes even begin...

All packed and ready to go!  I hope we didn't forget anything important!

Now this was cool.  It's a line of about 20 Power One electrical maintenance trucks from Florida.  They were headed East on  Highway 70 when we saw them.  Thanks for the proactive help!

And here's all of the stuff, waiting to be moved in.  The University actually had Office Movers on hand, with big carts - think of the carts that industrial laundries use.  They were there as soon as I took the picture, loaded the stuff into the cart, and took it upstairs with our son.  Total move in time: 10 minutes.

Nifty clouds.  These were swirling around as we were getting ready to leave, dumping lots of rain on us.

High School Orientation

So, my youngest child - our daughter - begins High School next week.  This morning is Orientation for all incoming Freshman, and tonight is Back to School Night for all students.

I've done the high school orientation two times before, and I'm still looking forward to today's orientation.  We'll go in and listen to the principal explain attendance policies to us.  He'll explain the Standards of Conduct. 

And then, we'll break up into small groups and tour the building.

This high school is much smaller than my high school was, and I find it to be very easy to navigate.  However, this school is much bigger than the middle school that my children attended, and it is overwhelming to them.  The fear of getting lost on the first day of class isn't mitigated at all by her older brothers giving her directions to get to the portables just outside the cafeteria by directing her through the pool.  (Our school doesn't have a pool, so you can see just how helpful they are being!)

I have some mixed emotions about sending my last child off to high school.  I was thrilled to leave elementary school behind.  We had a good school, but her 5th grade teacher left me with bad, bad memories of elementary school.  By the time the last day of 5th grade rolled around, I stood out in the parking lot with several other parents who were leaving elementary school behind forever and danced the "Happy Dance". 

Our middle school has been the bright, shining light of school for all of our kids.  We are very fortunate to have a school that challenges our kids, acknowledges that kids who are in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will be mischievous, and works hard to challenge all of that excess energy into academic curiosity.  Considering our ranking in the state, our school test scores, and the high number of children who go on to get college scholarships, I know that they do an excellent job.  I love the teachers in that building, and I love their enthusiasm and love for the children.  When we finished middle school in June, I did cry.  I will miss middle school.

But we have an awesome high school!  The best teachers, ever, and a student body that is motivated and eager.  Why do I find myself so sad?  I think it's because she's moving on to High School.  I'm realizing that she has completed 8 years of compulsory education.  She'll only be at home for a few more years before she moves out and starts her own adventures.   It's a sobering realization.

It seems like only yesterday that she was standing at the bus stop with her brothers.  She was three years old, and wearing a purple sweat suit with a purple tutu and sneakers.  She, Philip, Kyran, and Christina were running around the bus stop, chasing each other around and yelling.  When all of their older brothers and sisters got on the bus and they had to stay behind, all of them started crying.  They were inconsolable that their siblings were going off on an adventure and leaving them behind.

I kind of hate to admit it, but that's how I've been feeling this week. 

This stage in our lives kind of stinks, you know?

East Coast Earthquake

Hard to believe, but we had a small earthquake here yesterday.  You'd think from all of the press coverage that buildings had collapsed and thousands have been killed.

There has been damage.  The National Park Service found a crack in the Washington Monument.  I've been watching the news on and off for the last 24 hours from the Washington, DC stations, and I have heard nothing about the monument leaning or being tilted.  I saw the live feed out of Washington at lunchtime, and it doesn't look as if it's tilted.  I remember looking at plans from the monument several years ago, and there is a lot of monument underneath the ground.  In order for that monument to tilt, I believe we would have had to have a stronger earthquake.

There was major damage to St. Patricks Cathedral in Baltimore, as well as to the National Cathedral in Washington.  Both are closed until furthur notice while structural engineers take a closer look at the buildings.

Where was I during the earthquake?  I was walking into the church with the kids.  I heard the building and ground rattling as we walked up to the door, but there were large trucks driving by the church at that time.  My initial thought was "Good heavens, those are big trucks.  What kind of a load are they carrying?"  We walked into the church and heard the sounds of the preschool kids screaming, and saw all of our pastors and office staff standing in the doorways in the offices. 

My middle son, who is not lacking in self-confidence, announced as he walked into the church office: "The ground trembles at my arrival!"  

In passing, I would like to note that the cats were going absolutely nuts yesterday.  They were throwing themselves around the house, running into walls, and tearing up and down the hallway.  I talked to some friends last night at church, and I heard the same thing over and over again.  Whether people owned a dog or a cat, the animals were going nuts in the hours leading up to the earthquake.  Interestingly enough, our cats have gone nuts several times since then.  The kids have a screen on the computer hooked to the National Geologic Website, and when the cats start bouncing off the walls again, we'll check their online seismograph and find out that, sure enough, we've had another aftershock.  Some of them have been too small for us to feel, but the cats have definitely felt them.

Truly, I enjoyed the earthquake.  It's a better ride than anything I've been on at HesheyPark. 

I am so glad that I don't live on the West Coast, where these things happen on a regular basis.
And I am so thankful that no one was hurt or injured. 

Be careful out there!

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Our oldest son had his Eagle Scout Ceremony on Saturday afternoon. 

His Eagle Project was to build a set of risers (or steps) onto the existing stage in the fellowship hall of our church.

His original Eagle Project had been approved by the district, but when he went through the county permit office, the project was denied, and he had to start again, from scratch.  At the time of the denial, he was 17 years old.  He had less than a year left to find a project, get it approved and carry it out.

I have to say, I have never seen him so motivated.  He found a new project and had it approved by the end of April.  It passed through the county permit office in May, and he began fundraising in June.

He carried his Eagle Scout project out on the third weekend in August - hey wait- that was the exact same weekend that we held his Eagle Scout Ceremony!

And then, he had to wade through the write-up.   His birthday is in January, and he didn't finish the write-up until December. 

He had his scoutmaster conference a week before his 18th birthday, and turned his paperwork in three days before his birthday.  Our advancement chair turned the paperwork in the very next day.  Good thing, too.  As he was leaving the Council office, it started to snow.  The area roads were shut down and schools were closed for the next two days!

His ceremony was wonderful.  All of his living grandparents were there.  His Eagle Advisor was there.  His co-workers from the Boy Scout Camp where he works during the summer were there.  And we all had a great time, talking, laughing, and reminiscing.

So much work on his part.  So many things went wrong, and yet, it all came together in the end.  Preserverance saw him through the project.  Like the rest of life, the race is not always won by the fastest, but by the one who sticks through, until the very end.

Congratulations, son.  I am very proud of you!

A Word from the Cat

Hello... my name is Tiger, and I am one of two resident cats in this house.

The computer is on, and everyone is cleaning up my latest masterful creation in the basement, so I have taken matters into my own paws, if you will, to give my story.

I have lived with this family for nine years now.  I was a little kitten when I saw a little girl with a bright green pack walking down the street to the big yellow caterpillar.  I chased her backpack straps,  and I caught them!

She got into the big yellow caterpillar, and I followed her "Mom" back to her house.  They had a nice porch with a big chair and cushion on it, so I made myself at home.  My Mom had lived in the woods by the place where the big yellow caterpillar came.  I lived there with my brothers and sisters.  Mom had been hit by a car the night before, and we were all out looking for a safe place to live and get food and water.

Eventually, "Mom" brought out food and water for me.  She let me into the house.  She put pictures of me up all over the neighborhood.  I was taken to an office where I was wrapped up in a towel, and had a couple of sharp sticks poked at me. 

But, through it all, I loved that little girl with the bright green backpack with the long dangly straps.   I'll call her Missy.

Missy has grown up now.   She no longer carries a bright green backpack, and the straps no longer dangle on the ground when she walks.  I heard that she was in something called "Kindergarten" when I adopted her, and now she is going into something called "High School".

I've taught Missy well over the years.  I've taught her to pet me when I meow.  I used to sleep at the end of her bed, but now - her feet keep hitting me in the middle of the night.  I try to lick her toes to keep her from hitting me, but does she move her feet?  No!  She kicks me!  I've taught her not to leave the lid on her fish tank open, and last night, I reminded her why she should not leave a ball of yarn down on the floor.

Recently, my family brought home another cat.  Her name is Luna.  Luna thought that she could have possession of Missy's feet, too.  She was wrong.  Luna and I have been having battles over posession of Missy's feet at 2 in the morning.  I win the battles, and possession of Missy's feet.  Unfortunately, Missy wakes up when we fight, and throws us both out of her room and closes the door so we can't get back in.  It's not fair!  I win those fights fair and square, and what reward to I get?  I get tossed out into the cold, dark hallway in the middle of the night!

Picture, Copyright 2011 BLW

And so, last night, Luna and I declared a truce.  After we were tossed out of Missy's room, we went downstairs and found the yarn basket.  Need I say more? 

I must go now.  I hear Missy coming back upstairs.

Until next time,
Tiger


 This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all!