WHY I READ

I would read it with a fox

I would read it in a box

I would read it here or there

Say, I would read it anywhere

It's true. My favorite author is Dr. Seuss, and it's a good thing, too, because I spend many, many, many hours reading the rhyming master to my four kiddos. I have memorized "Green Eggs and Ham." Yes, indeed, I can recite the whole book.

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when I read books with no pictures and very few rhymes. But these days, attempts to read grown-up books are interrupted by pleas from my little ones. "Read me a story, Mommy. Pleeeease." Who could resist?

So, we cuddle up on the couch. I sit in the middle with infant, Daniel, cradled in one arm. Kristin, 6, sits to the left. Laura, 4, and Robbie, 2, fight for the best vantage point on the right. After we get settled so everyone can see, the story begins.

It doesn't matter much what we read, so I pick. If I'm spending my time reading children's books, I want ones I enjoy. That's why Dr. Seuss is a favorite at my house. I've been reading him since I started to read.

Over the years, I've become a master of one-handed book reading, a skill reserved for elementary teachers and mothers with more than one child.

Sometimes, Kristin or Laura holds the book and turns pages at appropriate times. Kristin, who learned to read last spring, no longer waits for a gentle prompt from me. She knows when I've finished reading all the words on the page. "I'm reading in my head, Mom," she says.

Laura and Robbie often know when to turn the pages also. They've heard the stories so many times, they have memorized the time to turn.

I know the day will come, probably a lot sooner than I would like, when my tots will be independent young people who don't want sit on Mom's lap and cuddle up with a book.

So some mornings I'm a little late for work. We're reading.

Some evenings we don't eat dinner until after 8 o'clock. We're reading.

Some nights lights don't go out until after 10. We're reading.

And some nights, in the middle of the night when I check on my babies, I pull books out from under their sleeping heads. I ask them, "Aren't you kids uncomfortable with all those books in your beds?" "No Mommy," they say. "We're reading."