Friday, April 24, 2015

And Thus it Ever Was

On one of our trips to Utah last year we left really early in the morning.  My plan to keep myself awake was also my plan to expose my kids to an amazing book I'd read called Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  As we rolled out of the driveway I popped it into the cd player and immediately the groans started.

"Mom, I don't WANT to listen to your book."

"Mom, I was going to watch a movie."

"Mom, I just want to listen to my music."

"Mmmmoooooommmmm!!!"

Well, I told them, you don't have to listen all day.  You only have to listen until we get to Pendleton, and then you can watch/listen to whatever you want.

Four hours later as we rolled through Pendleton I popped the cd out of the player and grabbed my Dick Francis book on cd.  But then I heard from the back,

"Moooommmmmm!"

"Mom, what are you doing?!?"

"Mom, put it back in!!!"

And so I did, and we listened to Wonder until it was done and we all (even Jared) were sniffling.  And I was happy as we talked about all of the things that were hard about this book and all of the things that were beautiful about this book.

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This afternoon Russ picked the girls up from school early (while I was napping) and then brought them home to me so that we (not including Russ) could start our drive to Utah.  It's going to be a quick trip for a wedding on Saturday and the girls's wisdom teeth out on Monday.*

Once again I had my nefarious book on cd plan.  This time I'd planned that we'd listen to Shannon Hale's "Book of a Thousand Days," which I loved when it came out.

As we rolled out of the driveway I popped it into the cd player and immediately the groans started.

"Mom, I don't WANT to listen to your book."

"Mom, I was going to watch a movie."

"Mom, I just want to listen to my music."

"Mmmmoooooommmmm!!!"

Well, I told them, you don't have to listen all day.  You only have to listen for a little while and then you can do your own thing.  I reminded them that they've both been reading Shannon Hale's newest book this week and that they've really loved it, and they grudgingly agreed to listen.

Sometime later the phone rang--Russ giving me suggestions on how to avoid the worst of the Portland traffic which had gotten bad earlier than expected.  As soon as I hung up the phone the girls were after me, insistent that I turn the book right back on.  And so it went through the evening--every time I turned it off, they wanted it immediately back on.

Of course I loved that.

We finished disc 5 (of 6) as we pulled into our friends' neighborhood in Nampa where we were going to spend the night.  One story crisis had just resolved but a bigger one remained.  One of the girls insisted that we NEEDED to FINISH RIGHT NOW!!  I laughed and said that we would finish when we resumed our drive in the morning.

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I don't know why it is that kids always assume that whatever their parents have planned is probably going to be dumb or lame.  I'm sure I was the same way.  I am glad that I've managed to expose my kids to some wonderful things, in spite of their resistance...



*We are being medical tourists this weekend, though I must say that when I first read about medical tourism I assumed it would include exotic travel destinations and not just a trip to Utah.  But in Oregon it would cost $3000 out of pocket to get the girls' wisdom teeth out, and in Utah it will only cost $600.  I have no idea why it's so different, but we can pay for gas and food to get there, get to go to my nephew's wedding, and pay to get the wisdom teeth out all for less than 1/3 of the Oregon cost.  Wish us luck!

1 comment:

  1. This had me laughing out loud! ;) Glad you're successfully indoctrinating them to great books.

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