If the riches of the Indies, or the crowns of all the kingdoms of Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love of reading, I would spurn them all” - Francois Fenelon
I'm of the mindset that half the fun of raising a child is discovering who they turn out to be. To nurture and guide them and provide them with opportunities so that they are secure and happy and able to develop into the person they are meant to be and find their path to a meaningful, happy life. So, I'm not sitting here hoping and planning that Adam will be a doctor or a lawyer (although if he would like to be a professional baseball player, perhaps the first Vietnamese shortstop in New York Mets history...with season tickets for his Mom....)
That being said, oh, how I want him to be a reader. For all the obvious reasons -- and some a little less obvious. Thomas Jefferson said "I cannot live without books" Or chocolate. (Ok, maybe the part about chocolate wasn't Thomas Jefferson .....) And that's exactly how I feel. About books and chocolate.
In a difficult and painful childhood, books were always there. For many years they provided escape and fantasy and fun. How could you be bored when there were books to be read? In the immortal words of Dr. Seuss: The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” I want that for Adam.
But, later, they took on a different and even more important role. I started to get the idea that perhaps everyone was not like my family, that there were other ways of being, other types of lives, and that maybe, just maybe, mine could be different as well. That maybe I didn't have to be the person this childhood and this situation was molding me into. What a gift! And books helped me figure out how to attain that different kind of life, to learn out who I really was away from all the drama and pain, the kind of person I wanted to be. And they guided me to the help I needed to do all that hard work.
And now they are helping me prepare to be the best mama to a very special little boy so he can be the best and the happiest that he can be.
Oh, how I hope Adam will be a reader.
How Old is Adam?
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7 comments:
I'm so lucky in that both Natalie and Anna are readers. In fact (proud mommy boast), my 8 year old reads at a 5th or 6th grade level already! One book that you must buy for Adam is a board book called 'When the Elephant Walks'. Not many words, but hillarious pictures to giggle over. Also, I highly recommend 'Good Night Moon' and 'The Monster at the End of This Book' :)
With you reading to him, Adam will love books. He'll be that reader you're hoping he'll be!
This one was near and dear to my heart. Reading was really critical to us as parents, so we read to Will for a half-hour before each nap and at bed. (That first year, we really did spend an hour and a half a day in the rocking chair reading - how did we manage that?)
I'm so glad that it's really been worthwhile - he loves books now. His vocabulary is great, and he loves to listen. His dad has read him Stuart Little, The Trumpet Swan (to get ready for our trip to Boston - great book for adults too), and now The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe. He also is ready to listen to books on CD in the car too. So, moral of the story is you can do it! Don't be afraid to move on from the cute but ENORMOUSLY REPETATIVE little board books on to anything and everything your local library has to offer. (By the way, Will also loves being read the Sports Illustrated - but about the Cubs, not the Mets! Our other dream for him is that he might grow up to be a really good left-handed relief pitcher, but that one's not working out so well! He does hit off a tee pretty well though!)
Books have an amazing power to change lives. We are reading M. the Little House books now...I look forward to bedtime to find out what happens next!
Here is a great little web site dedicated to children's books...by a new adoptive mother.
http://pinktubpanorama.typepad.com/stinky_tuscadero/
I completely agree!! I don't care what our child decides she wants to do professionally when she gets older (within reason, of course), but I want her to be intellectually curious and to be an avid reader. Both my husband and I are huge into books, so I can't imagine how she could avoid it! :)
Just wanted to tell you this, Lucas (also from Vinh Long) has taken a long time to even begin to start liking books. I think he was so overstimulated already that books just couldn't hook him at all. He's now starting to pay attention to a few that he's got the language to understand. Photograph books of babies he really likes, plus an all-time favorite of my other son also: Spike Lee's Please Baby Please.
Anyhow, don't be devasted if he doesn't start out liking books right away! :) Carla
This is great info to know.
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