Lazy Saturdays and Bedtime Reading

Merry and Pippin's Lazy Saturday

Just finished a paper I’ve been working on for several months last night. Although I know I’ll probably have major revisions to make (and I welcome the opportunity to make it better), it felt good to cross it off my list. (and, yes, I have a real list I make each semester for my research projects and cross them off one by one). In celebration of that landmark (and not a day too soon since we report back on Monday), Emery and I decided to take a lazy Saturday. That means reading, television, and video games. About 2, my need to be busy and boss people around kicked in and Emery’s now practicing violin and singing, while I’m gardening and blogging.

Speaking of bossing people around, I’d like to discuss our bedtime reading routine. I’m not sure what I read in grad school, but I remember being in some literary and children’s literature courses and hearing about the importance of reading aloud to children. And, about fluency, And something called DIBELS. I then remembered (and this is completely unfair) about students I made read aloud in my high school class and how those students who would read and the other students would cringe or moan at the thought (or be embarrassed) for those students who couldn’t read as well or with emotion. I then I remembered I made no effort to work one on one with those students to help them read aloud better—what if Emery had a teacher like me? And honestly, in classrooms with 30+ kids, the amount he could spend reading aloud would be minimal anyway.

So, I made the commitment to read aloud to Emery before he was even born. And, at first, I read picture books. You may not be aware of how many wonderful picture books there are for children; I wasn’t and I would visit our local library and leave with stacks. And, I think my efforts worked. Emery would crawl up to me and shove Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus into my hands and wait for me to read it. Over and over.

As he started day care, we moved our reading aloud time to our bedtime routine. I think it was from the many parenting books I read and watched that I picked up on the keep a strict bedtime routine neatly packaged by the catch phrase “Bath, books, bed”. 10 years later, we still religiously stick to that routine, even on vacation.

Research speaks to the benefits of reading with your children, in fact, there are several public service announcements promoting the practice. And, I must admit I also saw it as a full-proof way to bond with one’s child. But, it’s exhausting and sometimes at the end of the day, I just wanted to read my own book. So, I worked out a schedule in which Victor would read to Emery one night, and I would the next. And, that’s the way it is.

The point of this entry is not to brag about my wonderful parenting skills, it’s to show how important this routine is to our lives. And, I don’t think many people still read aloud to their 10 year olds. But I did ask someone in my children’s book club how long he read to his son, and he said as long as he lets us to keep going (I suspect he and his wife read to their son when he was a teenager and their son is amazing, so it certainly can’t hurt).

 And, we’re about to finish the fifth book of Ridley Pearson’s Kingdom Keepers series and I’m ready for a change. I think I’m tired of all of the OTK, CTD, 2.0 talk and ready to return to something a little less action based and a little more thoughtful.

I think we’re ready for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

After all, we’ve watched all but the last episode of Fawlty Towers and Emery already knows the secret to the universe, so it’s time.

Emery’s comment: I am glad that I am not the only one who is tired of text speak in books. A Saturday spa day and/or lazy day can really help. Also for bedtime reading parent and child can bond together and be on the same page.

Victor’s Comment: As long as Emery wants one of us to read to him, I’m cool with it.  But I fondly remember that at a certain point, reading in bed before lights out became my time.  That was my first time through Lord of the Rings and a lot of other great books.  I hope Emery will not be too shy to say he wants to read on his own … when he wants.  No hurry.  I’d like to point out that reading in bed had been a cherished pastime until my wife made me turn out the light and leave the room if I wanted to continue to read.  She is weak and can’t stay up late.  It has been a blow to literacy and she is bossy.