March 14, 2006
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My first lie to my daughter
Yes, I am currently reading “Curious George goes to the Hospital”. OVER and OVER and OVER. I know parents always complain about reading the same book a lot, but this is ridiculous. I literally read it five times in a row and before the last page even turns, Delaney is yelling “MORE AGAIN MOMMY!” at the top of her lungs.
So today, at 2:15, after having read “Curious George goes to the Hospital” I think 17 times already this morning I told Delaney the book was broken. I pretended to be struggling and not able to open the cover. I even huffed and puffed and then said, “Yeah, sorry, it’s broken”. I felt bad, but I knew I would go crazy if I had to read that book for one more second. In my defense, I tried to read “Curious George goes to the Ice Cream Shop” and “Curious George goes to the Toy Store” but they would not do.
I know this may seem trivial to other people. But try reading a very long children’s book over and over, and then enduring tantrums and kicking when you’ve finally read the book so much it “breaks”.
I really wish she’d get more into the ABC book from the ’70s that my mom saved from my childhood. It’s great because it is so un-PC. It has “G is for Gun” and “I is for Indian” among others. Too funny.
Comments (2)
First, I wanted to say thank you for the comment you left on my site. I’ve gotten so used to people looking at the length and going “Oh God, there she goes again” and skimming right over my posts.
Second, I’d like to say that I have that ABC book as well, and even though I don’t have any kids of my own, I still crack it open once in a while, (it is quite hilarious!)
Also, I’ve worked in various childcares for the better part of my “adult” life, and I have two very young goddaughters with whom I spend a great deal of time, and I can tell you this: I wouldn’t call what you did “lying” so much as “giving your sanity a break”.
My goddaughter, Jasmine, was obsessed with the book “Too Big” and I accidentally “lost” it between her visits. Then we moved on to Dr. Seuss’s “The Sleep Book”, which, if you didn’t know it, is exactly 4,863,924,321 pages long, and we have to talk about each one because she feels certain that there is something mentionworthy on each page. I’m thinking that “The Sleep Book” may need to have an “accident” and magically disappear pretty soon. (I think the general idea was to make the book so long that by the end of the story the kid is asleep. Does it work? I think not.)
Don’t feel bad about “breaking” the book. That is a good way to introduce her to other things, and eventually she’ll become completely absorbed in some other fascinating story. Then, when that one eventually breaks, she’ll see a pattern and realize that even though she loves the books, when you read them TOO much, they don’t work anymore, and SHE will suggest that you read soemthing different! (That’s my theory. If you decide to try it, you let me know if it works! I have a tendency to underestimate kids and their ability to see through B.S.)
Sorry about that, I was so excited to get my theory out there that I misspelled “something”. Some English major I am.