Reading: take a leap

I know you are not suppossed to brag about your children. Whoever came up with that rule must have had a friend who was mega competitive about her own kids and so the rule maker got fed up. Rather than being rude and saying "Shut the H#$% up about your D@#$ kid!" they made a rule for it. Sounds like a first born....

I personally think we should brag about our kids. Not in the "my kid is better than yours" way some parents fall into, but with great pride in their genuine skills and achievements. I love hearing about kids who work hard or are naturally gifted and whose parents are somewhat amazed at what their offspring has created/achieved/participated in.

But I digress...

My kids are amazing. They really are. Both are happy being dirty and  stinky, playing in the dirt and climbing trees. They are not snobs about other people and for the most part are very kind and often are awkward. They are super sarcastic and have excellent senses of humor and use it inappropriately at times. I love it!

They also are amazing readers. That is a great source of pride for me. I love to read and have been since a very early age. (Most accounts put it at three, but I distinctly remember being able to read at 4). Curiosity can be fed, boredom can be cured and brains will be strengthened by reading a book, all the way through. At their age, my preference was to read laying down with my feet up on something, like the back of the couch, a wall, a tree.

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My oldest followed in my footsteps and was reading at 3. Her sister finally was able to allow us to know she could read at 5, but her teachers said she had been reading for some time. She's a little competitive and must master something before she can show that she knows how to do it. Walking made it's debut at 17 months. And I threatened her to get it done then.


My girls read like crazy.I find them sprawled everywhere in my house lately. One is rereading books that she read in 3rd grade and is venturing into that no-man's land of "books my sister read". The other is stealing my books to read. Which is fine, if she were reading Hemingway. But she wants to read my Christopher Moore books which are more like frat humor for intellectuals.

 I have the task of being her censure. And so,  I am looking into more mature books. Without graphic sex or frat humor.  We have had the birds and bees talk, but I am not ready to go into more detail yet. She recently read True Grit and To Kill A Mocking Bird and while both have violence, I felt that it was age appropriate for her. (That is a sentence I never anticipated uttering! Appropriate violence..?)

 Here is a list I have compiled thus far of books that I have read. Any suggestions for additions would be greatly appreciated!

The Da Vinci Code

The Secret Life of Bees

Fried Green Tomatoes

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (not sure about this one)

Help a sister out!