Read

School has been out for only a few days, and I am trying to adjust to having my kids in the house.  I realize they do live here, but they have been acting like slugs.  I won't be preparing breakfast all afternoon for much longer....

Three things I noticed after my kids were in the house for 48 hours of no school:
1. They were whining and complaining about each other
2. They tattled at a rate of 5 tattles per minute per kid
3. They were picking at each other

I had to remedy this.  HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE SUMMER if it literally just began and I'm exhausted already?  And how can I get them to start viewing each other as BFF's {my girls are great with one another, but a few hours of freedom had turned them into lunatics}?

I decided on that first day off, we'd head over to the library to join the library summer reading club.  Each week the kids can come to exchange books, and pick an age-appropriate gift from a treasure box.  I told the girls our summer reading would revolve around the once a week visit to pick new books, and get the next prize.  They like prizes.  This is good. This could work.   And that place is quiet....

Let's face it, I'm not the only one who has freaked out in years past when I realized I lost their summer reading lists for school, including the projects that would need to go with them, right?  Please say yes...  This year is going to be different {fingers crossed}. 

• I'm not going to let them wait until the last minute. 
• I'm going to make summer reading really, really cool. 

At least that's what I told myself a few days ago~and don't tell my kids, but it's working....

Think of me as Claire Dunphy from Modern Family...it's pretty much how my life operates.

Remember the episode where she tries to make her daughters team up "against her" because she was such a spaz?  Okay, that happens a lot, but that was my goal here.  Give them a common thread to hang on to of..."mom is a total dork" and go from there. I'm willing to take that hit for my own sanity, it's worth it.

I had to do something, so I came up with BOOK CLUB.

The first rule of Book Club?  There is no Book Club. 

Joking....OK, the Rules are:

1. I will read to them {from a chosen book series} for 15 minutes a night, then they can all take turns reading a little bit of their own book selections out loud, followed up with quiet reading, or they can have quiet reading at another time.
2. There will be listening to one another. 
3. This club is not optional. 
4. They will help each other read hard words if needed
5. They would each be required to ask one question about the other books 

Sounds like a crappy club, huh?  Nope.  It's awesome.  And they're doing it. They are already reading longer than I told them they had to.  If I have tamed these wild ponies and gotten them to team up after just one book club meeting, then you can too.

Here is what makes this club really work:

You have to make it special and feel important.  There is a secret chant we do on a pinky swear before we begin, and I read to them by flashlight, inside a tent, or outside. 

Think Dead Poets Society here...remember how the boys would steal away in the night to read beautiful poetry in the dark, and bond huddled in that cave area?  I do.  It made the reading a bit more whimsical, didn't it?  To me, this is the key.  Make it irresistible.
And I'm just saying, but you will have to buy into this too, or else forget it.  Don't stomp your feet and roll your own eyes.  Have fun with it.  They're only little for a little while, you know.

This special location and secret chant before reading does a few things:  First, it makes them think I'm a total loser for making it up, and making them repeat the secret chant out loud, thus creating a pack mentality of "Mom is such a dork" {You see?  They are already bonding and rolling their eyes in unison now.  It's magical}.  Next, they will remember this when they get older. It will be a pleasant memory.  And lastly, it is my hope that they will be dorks for their own kids someday too. 

Mission accomplished.



Yes, this got set up in my foyer
because it was going to
rain...

So try it. You can go to your local library and sign up right now, and make up a silly chant on a pinky swear. While your kids are doing something you want {reading and getting smarter} they're also doing something they need~building strong bonds with each other that will carry over into other parts of their lives~at least that's my hope and plan. 

That is priceless.  Totally worth my loser status.


In the spirit of Dead Poets Society,

Carpe Diem! and read....

{Jenn}