Story Time

story-time-1A magical moment during story time

I love books. Everything about them. I love their covers, binding, and the enchanting words within… Story time is one of my very favorite things! My husband would tell you I collect books and I guess that’s true. I have more books than there is space for in our little two bedroom condo, but I just can’t seem to help myself. I do have a bad habit of starting books and getting distracted with another book and then another and another. I have many books with bookmarks in them on my shelves, but I fine with that! There are many strange things that I could be collecting so I think having an abundance of the written word is just fine!

I have always been surrounded by reading and books… When my sister and I were younger our father would take us to the Tattered Cover Bookstore and we would spend hours rummaging through the shelves for the book we would take home and call our own. It was like a treasure hunt.

I loved going (and still do) to any bookstore with my mom, grabbing a big stack of books, a beverage from the cafe and sitting down to rummage through the pages. I am so thankful that both of my parents love to read and that I grew up surrounded by stories of all kinds.

It wasn’t just searching for books that developed my love of reading. It was what my parents did once we were home… With my dad it was all about Dr. Suess! We read all kinds of his stories. I was so intrigued by the rhyming and creativity on the pages! My little sister and I would often act out the story of The Zax. One of us would be the North going Zax and the other would be the South going Zax and we would play our parts and say our lines as our dad read the story aloud. For those of you who have not read it, here it is…

The Zax – Dr. Seuss

The day before today,One day, making tracks
In the prairie of Prax, Came a North-Going Zax
And a South-Going Zax. And it happened that both of them came to a place where they bumped. There they stood. Foot to foot. Face to face.
“Look here, now!” the North-Going Zax said, “I say!
You are blocking my path. You are right in my way. I’m a North-Going Zax and I always go north.
Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!”
“Who’s in whose way?” snapped the South-Going Zax. “I always go south, making south-going tracks. So you’re in MY way! And I ask you to move
And let me go south in my south-going groove.”
Then the North-Going Zax puffed his chest up with pride. “I never,” he said, “take a step to one side.
And I’ll prove to you that I won’t change my ways
If I have to keep standing here fifty-nine days!”
“And I’ll prove to YOU,” yelled the South-Going Zax, “That I can stand here in the prairie of Prax
For fifty-nine years! For I live by a rule
That I learned as a boy back in South-Going School.
Never budge! That’s my rule. Never budge in the least! Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east! I’ll stay here, not budging! I can and I will
If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!” Well…Of course the world didn’t stand still. The world grew. In a couple of years, the new highway came through and they built it right over those two stubborn Zax and left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks.

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My mom wouldn’t only read us stories she would make up her own! I remember that at night when going to sleep she would make up a series of stories about a teddy bear named Tickles who live on my bed. This mischievous bear would have some pretty exciting adventures while I was off at school during the days… I LOVED these stories! AND then one day I came home to a little brown bear wearing a white knitted sweater… Tickles was real! Oh my gosh, as a kid this was one of the most magical things for me!

And then to my amazement I found a man who also enjoys books as much as I do. Ryan and I have always had a tradition of going to the bookstore, grabbing a rootbeer, and searching the shelves for what we could take home next. We spend hours searching for the next story! I cannot express how truly grateful I am to have married a man who holds reading at such an importance! I love our time together searching for exciting reads!

So, it’s no surprise that I hope to instill such a desire for reading in my little lady, Adeline. I hope that she too will find enchantment and knowledge within the many pages she will turn throughout the years to come.

Ryan would read the story books that we were collecting for her while I was pregnant and we have continued to do so over the last few months since we welcomed her into the world! I have made it a point to read to her at least once day, if not more!

The other day I was reading one of our many Dr. Suess books to Adeline during our story time when I looked down to turn the page and saw the tiniest of hands holding the side of the book. I stopped and just stared at her little thumb reaching over the edge of the cover and started to cry… This moment was a compilation of so many memories of the past and hopes for the future…

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The last 4 months have been a whirlwind of emotion – I cry all the time at the smallest of things, I am completely smitten with this tiny little gal, and I have a love for my husband that I did not know before.

I thank God every single day for blessing me beyond what I could have imagined.

Here’s to hoping for many more moments like the one above.

 

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