Have you ever read a book that made you reflect on yourself and evaluate where you've been or where you're gone? ... Maybe it was a book, a sermon, or something someone said.
I just finished book no. 21 of 2011, Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult. It was a fictional story of a school shooting ... The events leading up to it and the aftermath that followed. It was from the perspective of a variety of people, including the mother of the shooter as she struggled to understand where she wet wrong as a parent & what she could have done differently.
Now, I'm not saying that I am worried of raising a serial killer is something, but it does make you think about the memories you make, the things you do together and the effects that a choice or decision can have.
Books have a way of doing that to you like no other medium ... TV, movies, magazines, newspapers ... Maybe its just me but the effects of reading a enveloping book is lasting. Don't get me wrong, I felt like I was at Hogwarts when I watched HArry Potter, but it didn't leave me feeling that way days later. Maybe because reading is an intense activitiy. I mean, I am the queen at multi-tasking. I can fold laundry, do dishes, even stitch a craft project while watching a movie, but reading takes the entire "you".
We've started reading to Jamie as I'd previously posted ... and whether reading to him or reading ourselves must be something that we do enough to leave an impression because I often catch him flipping through books or "reading" out loud (his favorite to "read" out loud is the Mickey Mouse photo book which doesn't have any words!)
A love of reading is one of the most important things for me to give Jamie. I know you can't force it, but I hope he comes to appreciate reading. Last week we put a halt on the nightly reading- he's just not there yet. We read throughout the day and occassionally at night, but for now he's content to sit with Daddy and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse or Handy Manny before bed. I think he just wanted to read himself rather than listen so it just created more frustration than it was worth.
In the end, I just hope one day he see the value of books as a chance to take adventures he might not otherwise get to have.
Until our next cup of tea ...
July 23, 2011
The Journey of a Thousand Miles Starts with the Flip of a Page
Posted by The Teacup Cottage at 7/23/2011
Labels: Jamie, Musing and Meanderings
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1 Tea Party Guest:
Michelle,
I loved this post. Jamie is receiving a double blessing - learning the wonder of reading and sitting on his mommy or daddy's lap while doing it. Awesome.
When our grandson came to live with us in Buffalo a couple of years ago while Laurie and Stephen were doing Army stuff, he was 3, almost 4. Every single night, Grandpa read him a story in the family room after his bath and when he was all set in his jammies, and Grandma read him a story after I tucked him in bed. The ironic thing is, now that we live with them in CO, he still loves to read - sometimes in bed by himself with his little flashlight, or sometimes with his dad, or his grandpa or grandma. And every night during the school year, we go online and read the books he is required to read for homework.
But do you know his very favorite reading times? It's when he watches the DVD of Laurie reading to him from Afghanistan as he follows along in the books from the USO. Magical moments - and treasures to remember. No matter how old they are - toddler or 1st grader they will remember these moments.
Blessings my friend,
Sue
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