Today princess D brought home her very first library book of her own. She was soooo excited. I just peeked into her backpack to see what it is. It's Horton Hatches the Egg. Nice choice. We have at least two copies of this story floating around. It doesn't matter. This one is her book.
I have yet to see Chip's first library book. I hope he didn't lose it on the way home.
The older two boys are testing the waters on their library selections. Both of them have gone beyond "approved" reading into territory we'd rather wait until they're older for. I'd worry more about Bob if he was actually reading the books...but he's really just seeing what he can do without us saying anything. He flashes the "forbidden" book and never pulls it out again.
Our oldest child is of the "Trust me" age. He's almost 11. He can ready anything in the library.
So after an evening of reading about death eaters he shows up in our room around 1am.
"Mom, I'm scared."
"Go pray. Read your Bible. Perfect love casts out fear. Goodnight."
"But Mom, I feel like something is watching me."
"Well, you chose to read HP's third book before bed. Ever think there might be a reason we wanted you to wait until you were a little older? You think we don't know when you like to read, and how vividly you can visualize things? We do make rules for a reason. It seems to me this is a consequence of your own actions."
"Ooooh." in the light bulb tone of voice.
"Now get a drink and go back to bed. Think of good things."
"K. G'night mom."
"Goodnight."
I really can't complain. Our kids do enjoy great literature, on their own terms. They even read poetry, voluntarily. I know eventually they'll find what will feed their mind and what will feed the shredder. Like so many other things, it's just a trial and error process. I'm very proud they've made so few errors.
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