A few moments of silence creep slowly over the Hyder kingdom...King Daddy is asleep as are their royal highnesses Princess Abby and Prince Perrin. Alas, Queen Mommy realizes that she must resist her desire to nap with them if she is to get anything accomplished today. There is laundry to be washed, toys to be picked up, mail to be sent, floors to sweep/vacuum, diapers to be changed, children to be washed, food to be prepared, and the list goes on...
I remember when I used to have time to read. When I could spend an entire day devouring a really great novel and lose myself in someone else's imagination for awhile. I could read whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. My, how times have changed. If I'm lucky, I can read a few pages a day in "my" book. On a not-so-good day...well, at least it's not gathering dust just yet. Once Prince Perrin becomes mobile I may have to retire it to the shelf for an unspecified amount of time. In the meantime, I get to read a plethora of storybooks. Many of which become temporary favorites of Princess Abby's and I am required to read nightly for several weeks in a row. This might not pose a problem for the average person. However, I have them memorized by about the third time through and am ready to bang my head on the wall by the seventh or eight time. I've tried solving this problem by acquiring more books. It didn't help for long. I have those memorized now, too. I've tried hiding the ones I get REALLY sick of ( who knew the Teletubbies books were even more painful than the show? ) for awhile. I still remember every word though. How is that a woman who forgets what day of the week it is even though there's a calendar on the wall can have every one of her children's storybooks memorized? If only I could forget the stories and remember the important stuff like eating lunch.
That's not to say I don't enjoy reading to the kids. I do. I love it. I've purchased/found a lot of the books I loved as a child to share with my own children. Books like "The Poky Little Puppy" and "The Boy with a Drum" and "Curious George". It's funny how reading "Curious George" as a parent totally changes the book. The man in the big yellow hat is ridiculously irresponsible. What kind of person would leave a monkey alone after telling him "Be good"? That's like leaving a two year-old alone and telling them to be good. Ask any mother how well THAT would work. A toddler has to idea what that really means and even if they do have a rough idea, they haven't got the attention span to remember it. Neither does a monkey. The man never seems to learn though. The same thing happens in every book. Even if George DOES have the mentallity of a toddler, he's still a whole lot brighter than the man in the big yellow hat!
I'm glad Abby doesn't see things the way I do. She still sees it as just a good book. She sees George, not the man with the big yellow hat. I'll never ruin it for her by revealing how ridiculous this man really is. She'll learn that kind of stuff on her own all too soon. Her innocence will gradually fade and drift away like morning mist and I will cry. I will mourn the loss of her childhood in a way only a mother can understand. Until then, I will cherish it. Hold it closely, but gently. Cupped in my hand like the most delicate, beautiful butterfly. Someday, it will fly away...but not today.
No comments:
Post a Comment