Saturday, July 21, 2012

Day 3: Reading is FUNdamental

You see what I did there with the title? Nevermind...

Growing up, I didn't like reading.  My imagination couldn't delve into it that much.  I mean, when I read, I just saw black letters on white pages.  What I did like was when my Mama read to me.

She would read me this old Social Studies textbook she found somewhere some nights.  We would read about Ferdinand the bull, or the popcorn story where a little bear decides to throw a party and pop some popcorn and things get out of hand.  Every Christmas Mama would also read us the Christmas story from Luke 2 in the King James Version of the Bible before we would go to sleep.  OK...before we'd fake like we were asleep and sneak down to play with our Santa Claus toys at 1:30 in the morning.  Me being the oldest, I was the one that usually made the decision to go down because I was quiet enough to check.  Now, my parents would hear my ankles and knees pop before I made it to the bedroom door.  Seems like the quieter I try to be now, the louder my bones pop.  Anyways...oh yeah, reading.

When my son was born, I knew there would come a time where I would read to him at one point or another.  One of our favorite books at first was Kitty Up.  It was so neat to see him immediately turn to the pages he liked.  Another story we read was Lullaby, Lullaby.  He always said he liked the part where the parents put the baby to sleep.  My favorite books were Just Like You and I Love You, Daddy.  Just Like You was about a Daddy Bear and his cub exploring the world.  The Daddy Bear let the cub make all the decisions with some guidance.  I would always tell Brighton that he was my little cub and I would be there to help him whenever he needed me.  Just Like You was a story about two bears again.  The cub wanted to be just like his Daddy.

He's older now, so the books and stories have gotten a bit longer.  We also can't skip pages anymore because that little genius will catch us on it and tell us that we missed some.

Right now, he is asking for God Gave Us You and God Gave Us Two.  The first is a story from the Mama's point of view explaining how the baby came to be.  In God Gave Us Two, the Mama is again talking to the child but preparing it for its brother or sister.  In the end, Mama ends up having twins.

In reading with my son, I realized something.  This is one of the few times you can have the complete attention of your child.  He always leans up against my side or my wife's side and simply listens.  He asks questions a lot about the story or it will jog a memory from the day's events and we talk about that.  I try my best to bring God into the conversation somehow.  I am reading a book right now that reminds me as a Daddy that my relationship will be his first taste of how our relationship with our heavenly Father should be like.

The funny thing in writing these little messages to you is that I am looking at things through your eyes a bit.  I am asking myself what do these parents need to hear from me.  Do I want to make them laugh? Do I want to make them cry?  I would not have noticed how still Brighton is unless I was writing this to you.  So, thanks.

Here is one piece of advice I have and you can do with it what you want.  I completely realize that as men, we are expected by society to be a certain way.  We are to be the rocks in our families.  We are the protectors.  We are the tough ones who keep our heads about ourselves.  However...

Love on your kids.  I don't mean hug them and tell them you love after arguments.  I don't mean pat them on the back when they do something good.  I mean let your kids know you love them.  I can't not tell you how awesome it is for me when my son hears the garage door open and comes running to me and says, "OH, Daddy, I missed you."  We were in Lowe's tonight and as I was pushing him around in the buggy, he looked at me, smiled, opened his arms for a hug, and told me he loved me.  I of course kissed him on top of his head and told him I loved him too.  He tells me to kiss his hair so that's what I do.  When he kisses my wife and I good night, for some reason he has to kiss our right cheek and left cheek.  Don't know where he got that, but I don't mind.

Take opportunities to just sit and be still with your kids.  If you are trying to approach something with your kids, try a book discussion.  As a school teacher, you have no idea how many discussions I start with a short story or make a connection to a lesson by using a movie or some other form of media.

My son is three right now and I know the times of him being able to just sit super close to me and rest are slipping away.  I am going to enjoy them all I can.  Tonight, when I got him out of the buggy, I told him he was getting heavy.  His response, "But you'll still carry me, won't you Daddy?"  I picked him up, hugged him tight, and said, "You know I will, buddy."

I guess this is it until tomorrow.  Day three is in the books.

Remember, be the Fathers God want you to be and the Daddy your children need you to be.



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