The end of the day

I have always wanted constancy... It is my holy grail. I've never really found it. There are some small areas of success that I have found though. Reading at night is one of them. I read with Henry and/or Nora almost every night, and have been really consistent with that... especially with Henry: I am building that up with Nora as well. Every night we come upstairs and lie on my bed. I read to Henry while Jen reads to Nora, they very rarely like the same books. Sometimes, like tonight, I will read to both of them.

Henry is working his way through the second Harry Potter: Ron just swooped in with his flying car and rescued Harry from the Dursley's house. To Nora, I read the disney version of Robin Hood. If I read to Nora, Henry usually stays for that as well. I have really seen the benefits of this "every night" ritual. Henry nearly begs to keep reading, if we miss it, the world begins to end... no lie. He is now at the point of taking a real interest in what the words mean, and the physicality of reading. He likes to point out word groups that look especially enticing and ask about them. He always... always stops me if he doesn't know a word. Maybe I was able to make this so consistent because I have such a willing audience.

Nora isn't that attentive. She will dance around and sing as I am reading to Henry... which kills him. She climbs all over me, up on my back, fall of my side, climb through my legs, down face to face. But she is slowly building an interest, as long as she can pick the book. Henry used to fly around like that too. It took me a while to understand that he was still paying attention. He always knew what was going on if I asked him. I just had to trust that he was with me... and inevitably, he was.

I love this time. It's close and focused. No bright lights, nothing pulling them away, just some decent lighting, a good book, and the best company you could ask for.

db