and then there were four…

Okay, maybe I am a little, but I can’t help it!

Olivia, who turned three on October 4th, 2009, is READING. I spoke of her abilities earlier, but she is actually reading full books, with minimal help from us in sounding the words out! I’m so freaking proud of her I don’t know what to do.

The obvious answer is to buy her more books. Which is probably what I’ll do once we weed through the ones that are tattered and need new homes. The girls have lots (and LOTS) of books, but I want to continually foster a love of reading, and nothing says “Wooohoo, let’s read!” like a new (or gently used) book. We are also thinking it may be time for her first library trip.

I have been hesitant about library books for many reasons, mainly that I don’t want my children to ruin them and possibly because I spent the majority of my time in the library as a child. While I have so many fond memories of sitting, cross-legged on the floor, searching the shelves for something I had not yet read, I also envied children who had shelves of books and always wanted tons of my own. I hated having to give them back after falling in love with them. I was a re-reader and probably checked out “The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking” (and all the other Pippi books available at our library) at least 20 times in my life.

My mom laughed when I told her that and said “Well, when I was growing up, I always wanted more Barbies, so I guess that is why I always bought you lots of them.”

I found that incredibly sweet. We want for our kids what we didn’t have, or felt we were lacking.

We will just have to find a healthy balance between buying and borrowing. After all, I want them to understand they can’t have EVERYTHING, but it is so hard to NOT spoil them when we are talking about books.

I try to keep all of their hardcover classic books on a high bookshelf and they have to ask to read them, because I want them to keep them always, so maybe they can read them to their children. Hopefully I can help save them a small fortune on books (not that I mind, but giving them a leg-up on all things is sort of my parental duty ;o).

Some people have commented that they worry about Olivia and how she may become bored when all the other children are learning their letters and numbers and she is reading in Kindergarten. I always tell them we will cross that bridge when (and if) we get there. I worry about her being bored and acting out, but Bill pointed out that it is our job to teach her to occupy herself or how to handle herself when she is bored, because that’s kind of an important life skill–there will be times in life when you are bored. You can’t start acting foolish because of that. Logic: Bill’s got it. Plus, we can always supplement what she is doing with enrichment activities and teaching her things at home.

But, I’m getting WAY ahead of myself. She’s three. She still needs to play and get dirty and have reading be a fun activity for her, not a chore. Last night, she started getting frustrated because she had chosen a LONG book to read and it was taking her awhile (The Cat in the Hat is kind of long, ya’ll). I looked at her and said “You don’t have to finish reading this, I can read it to you–reading shouldn’t make you sad or angry, reading is fun, not work.” She perked up and said “Oh, it is fun, and I want to finish.

And finish she did.