Book Club~follow up

Since starting our book club in the beginning of the summer,  something interesting has happened. My Super-mom-enthusiasm that got them interested has waned, as I'm not really super woman at all....I try, but... 

I've been tired at night when the girls are finally ready to settle down and read {and I want to sleep} but their enthusiasm has gained momentum, since we've gotten into the story, and they are the ones driving me to keep on reading. I figure this ebb and flow will be necessary to make this work...I can't always be the one driving this train. 

My oldest went to a sleepover, and missed a night of hearing the story. I didn't think she'd even notice, but before I started reading the other night, she said, "wait you guys have to tell me what happened last night, I missed it!!".   Music to my ears. 

So I asked each of the girls what they think of book club, and here's what I got...

Me: What do you think of book club so far?

The Oldest: I like that you read it. I like using the flashlight to read. Why are you asking me questions?

The Middle: It's great I guess. I have no idea why. I like the flashlight part...can you stop asking me questions?

The Youngest: It's fun, I like when you read. I like when you talk and I think about the story that you do. I imagine that I am Harry Potter and I see the story in my eyes and my brain, like, its cool and it calms me down. 

Invigorating, ladies, really.  Thanks for your insight.  I'm just going to take it for what is is.  FUN.  And try my best to keep it that way.

Just last night, as I was reading to them with my eyes closing and was about to close the book for the night....they begged me to keep going. 
"Just a few more pages, Mom?  Please?!" 
How could I stop?  So I propped open my eyes, and kept reading.  After all, this is what I wanted, right?  That "intrinsic motivation to read" switch flipped to the "on" position.  It's on.  And tired or not, I'm thrilled :)

Read to your kids, even if all you want to do is sleep.  You're teaching them something they will keep with them for a lifetime.  And one night, when they're reading to their children, they will remember the nights you plowed through, and read to them.

Have a great day

{Jenn}

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}

Water

My friend Nancy gave me the book, "This Is Water" a few years ago.  It's in the form of a book, but it is actually a commencement speech, written by an author who is no longer with us {David Foster Wallace}.   I have read it many, many times, as it only contains about a sentence or two on each page.  The subject matter?  Compassion.  I'm starting to see that when I write, it's one of my favorite topics.

My husband, who has always said he is "not a reader" has also read this book countless times.  I promise every time you read it, you will notice something else, or remember a situation that fits into the authors examples.  Read it, then sit with it in your mind.  Then read it again.

No, I get no 'kick-back' for you reading it...but if you know me, then you already know I am a bit of a 'book-pusher' :)  If I read something that moves me, I want you to be moved too.  I can't help it.  Know now that there will be more posts about amazing books on this blog.  {You have been warned}

The other day, as I attempted to hustle through Walmart to grab groceries while my youngest daughter was at a retreat for the afternoon, I was reminded of this book.  I'm actually reminded of this book a lot.  I want you to read it.  I want you to remember it too.

It was Saturday, it was the afternoon, and it was the day before all the news channels predicted we were getting snow.  Does that give you a picture of what the grocery area of Walmart looked like?  People galore, carts all over, and people riding those carts that beep when they back up {sometimes I wonder if the beeping is just a courtesy to let you know you are about to be involved in an accident...}.  It was really not the way I like to go shopping, but it needed to get done, so there I was. 

As I looked around, people looked kind of aggravated~not everyone, but a decent amount.  It reminded me that I had a decision to make.  This was either going to be the worst grocery shopping day of my life, or I was going to focus on something else.  I decided that I would just smile at people who caught my eye, and see how they reacted.  I wasn't going to get done any faster if I was ticked off, so I just smiled, and went along my way, expecting for it to take awhile.

What I noticed was people smiled back, even if their expression was of total disgust when I first caught their eye.  Remember, we were all like sardines, carts banging into each other....but making the decision to smile turned out to be helpful.  People seemed to get nicer.  They let me get by.  And something else I noticed?  Birds.  Above all the kids crying, people muttering under their breath, and general chaos, I could hear birds chirping {birds are a whole other topic for me....God knows that is another post~a former phobia of mine~but in this instance they were all good}.  So I focused my attention on hearing the birds chirping, flying around Walmart, and smiling {I don't meditate for nothing you know...it helps}.

When I got to the deli counter, I went to grab a number from the ticket~thing, but a woman pulled up in a cart, and beat me to it.  If I would've been sucked into the bad energy of everyone being ticked, I may have gotten aggravated, but I wasn't.  I smiled.  And the sweet woman, who reached up to take a ticket from her ride-on cart noticed me, and handed me her ticket.  I tried to say no, that I would take the next one, and she said, "Hey, don't worry about it, at least while I'm waiting I get to sit down, you have to stand!".  We both laughed, and I didn't fight her on it anymore.

It seems that she had a decision to make too.  I didn't know the woman, but clearly she had a medical reason to be on that cart, and she decided not to be angry about it.  I would dare to say she has to make a conscious decision each day, since she is dealing with something physically uncomfortable.  She chose to laugh instead of run me over.  I appreciated it.  And it made me smile more. 

Because this is water.  It's all water.  {You will get it too...just read the book}

Get the book from the library, or wherever.  Read it.  {It has a few swear words in it, but just get over it and read the beautiful speech that reminds me everyday to make a positive choice}.  It will literally take you 15-20 minutes.  And don't let me fool you~I don't walk around sprinkling holy water on people.   I get annoyed sometimes too.  But the book will remind you to take an everyday situation like grocery shopping or traffic, and make it an opportunity to practice empathy and compassion~it's a choice.

Have a great day, and do what my Nana always said to do {no, not to drink another highball~well, okay, but only if it's after 5pm}...smile, she always said to smile.

{Jenn}