Story-time

"I loves me some books"

The kids and I have an evening ritual of story-time.  Yes, even my Teen likes to settle in at the end of the day to listen; it helps us all calm down and connect after a busy day.  For the past two and a half years, we've read through the Harry Potter series and last week, we reached the last page of the seventh book and I felt a little verklempt.  I love story-time!

This was my second time reading through the series as I had begun reading them to the Boy when he was 4.  We'd read them as a family when the Ex and I were still together and the Boy finished the last book on his own because we were going through the separation.

My own memories of storytime go back to when I was a little girl and I would visit my Grandma and Grandpa every weekend.  My Grandma would drive up to the countryside from Ottawa and bring me to their downtown apartment on Friday night for a dinner of fish n' chips & peas and each night, I would snuggle up to my Grandpa and he would read a chapter from one of the books they'd bought for me.  Simple books, some of which I still have like, "Would you Rather" and Professor Wormbog's Gloomy Kerploppus" (Seriously one of the most bizarre and awesome scratch and sniff books - Remember scratch and sniff books?  My copy's smells are all gone except for the peppermint smell, that one is still faintly recognizable...  But I digress). 


As I got older, my Grandma bought "Anne of Green Gables" and so began a very long courtship with the awkward, redheaded orphan.  Grandpa read each book in that series to me except for the last half of the last one because he went into the hospital with Leukemia and never made it out.  It took me a couple of years to take the book up and finish it on my own, but I did.  I can still remember the feeling of snuggling up with him and getting lost in each story he read, the different voices he gave each character and the smell of him, a faint perfume of cigarettes and gin.  


I wonder what my kids will remember of story-time?  I hope they remember it fondly of course, but what pieces will linger with them in their memories when they have children of their own?  When I read to them, I feel very connected to my Grandpa.  Of course, later on, when they read studies about how reading to your kids helps them develop in 101 ways, they can feel good about helping them build a better future, socialization skills etc., but the grass roots of the whole thing boils down to a time to settle down, de-stress and let your imagination build something visually from words on a page.  Being read to is the way I learned to read.


Now I have to figure out what series we can get lost in next.  We spent a very long time with Harry Potter, I confess to being just as into the books as the kids and completely let myself get carried away with the characters; I cried when some of them died and felt happy while reading their accomplishments out loud (Does that make me a Pot-Head?).  How long will the Boy want to continue on with this ritual?  What kind of book will capture his imagination as well as the Girl's?


Santa brought us the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I think that will be a fun adventure for us.  Tomorrow, I get to see the kids again and we can pack our Pj's for the next trip.