A Good Book

Both boys love to read. I think if they had to choose between books and TV, they'd choose books. It's a love that their mom and I share.

We started reading to Ethan when he was a baby. When Tristan was in preschool, all three of us read to him. One day when Tristan was four, I sat down to read him a bedtime story, and he said, "No, Dad; tonight I get to read to you." He took the book out of my hand, and read it perfectly. At church, he was in a class that rewarded kids who memorized Bible verses. Each week, the teacher would have the verse in front of her, and would test the students. She never thought to hide the verse, because it never occurred to her that a four year-old could read a sentence on a piece of paper. (Tristan, always the overachiever, had the verses memorized, but he wasn't dumb; why take a chance when it was right there in front of him?)

I don't get to read to either of my kids as much as I used to. Mostly, they read to themselves, or to each other. And sometimes, when a really good book comes out, we all fight over who gets to read it first.