Skip to main content

More truth

Mallory is supposed to read aloud for 20-30 minutes every day. As Chris and I are working parents, that means we have to try to fit that half-hour of reading between 5:30, when we get home, and 9:00, when the kids (supposedly) go to bed. Along with dinner, and other homework, and bath, and Daisy scouts, and other stuff.

You would think that someone such as myself, who would rather read than do almost anything else in the world, would do everything in my power to foster such a love of reading in my children. You'd think that I'd make reading practice a Very High Priority.

The truth is...some nights, like tonight, I let Mallory play with her little sister instead. She has the rest of her life to be a reader. She only has a few short years to be here at home with Phoebe.

I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt about letting her skip reading practice. I do feel a little bit bad about forging the Reading Log that gets turned into her teacher every month. Let's just hope Mrs. T doesn't know about my blog.

Comments

aimee said…
I do the same thing. Sometimes, there are more important things than reading a book about a cat and mouse, who are friends until the mouse eats the cat's ham and the cat gets mad and eats the mouse. Then the cat is sad.

Seriously, that is the book Noah had to read yesterday.

Popular posts from this blog

A Picture Post

A poster Chris drew for the annual Harvest Day Bake Sale, proceeds to benefit Mallory's preschool: A poster Chris drew for Mallory's class. What did Phoebe say when she saw it? "El-mo!" She's good at spotting that little red monster, even when he's not red. Our beautiful new chair! Which actually matches our beautiful new couch! Phoebe looking pretty. Mallory looking goofy. My girls.

The Golf Course

There was a miniature golf course in my grandparent’s house. There were, in fact, lots of cool-if-kitschy things in my grandparents’ house. There were swinging saloon doors between the kitchen and the master suite. There was a toilet seat made of transparent plastic, with ticket stubs from horse races embedded therein. There was a globe wine bar (pictured!). There was a mounted goat head (the goat was named Bucky) on whose antlers my granddad hung his golf caps. There was a stuffed pheasant whose chest feathers were smooth as silk. There was a kitchen bar of green marbled formica and swively kitchen chairs of red pleather. There was an automatic ice dispenser on the refrigerator, which was a rare and awe-inspiring thing in the 1970’s. There was a mirrored tray holding bejeweled perfume bottles with atomizers in the guest bathroom. There were two huge oil paintings – one of my aunt, with beautifully frosted hair, holding a Pug, one of my older sister as a toddler sitting on a John De...

Merry Christmas to Joey, too!

Scene: After the Christmas pageant. Me: You did great, Mallory, we're proud of you! Mallory: What was your favorite part? Me: Hmm. I liked the "Whatcha Gonna Call That Baby?" song. Chris: I liked that one too. Me: But I also liked "Joy to the World." Mallory: Joey in the world? What's that? Me: No, joy to the world, the song you just sang. Mallory: Oh yeah. Me: That's one of my favorite songs. Phoebe: A favorite song is a song that's your favorite and you like it and you sing. (Pause) Phoebe: And you dance. Mallory, before the show, in front of our haphazardly decorated Christmas tree. Phoebe declined to be photographed. All I was able to photograph of the event itself: Phoebe, objecting to the camera's flash: Now she closes her eyes before I snap every picture. Sigh. But she's cute anyway! And so is Mallory! And their dresses match! We're thinking Arby's: Okay, that's it! Recently read: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife . ...