You Are the Best Medicine

June 17, 2017

Here is something I learned this weekend: IF you’re going to let your 4.5 year old daughter feel like a big girl and pick out a library book ALL BY HERSELF be prepared to explain a few things. I had to do the following:

Explain to her why mommy is crying (uncontrollably) while reading the book she chose and
Reassure her that mommy doesn’t have cancer

Yes, that’s right. I was totally thrown off guard. My daughter picked out a book about a mother diagnosed with cancer. As I read the first sentence, my eyes filled with tears. I had to make a split decision: do I continue reading? Or, do I stop and tell her we need to go back to the library and pick out another book? I decided to read it. After all, it was a book that used age appropriate language to explain something that many families face everyday. Once we got though it, my daughter was very concerned and needed reassurance that it wasn’t me who had cancer (perhaps my crying confused her a little). I had to explain to her the reason mommy was crying is because I felt bad for all the mommies/daddies who have cancer and have to tell their little munchkins about it. Who knew, that a visit to the library would end on such a sad note…

Luckily, we live within a walking distance to our public library and were able to go back and pick out some new (happy) books! Yay!!

My older son (soon to be 2^nd grader) has been reading the Magic Tree House series all throughout his 1^st grade. He loves these books so much he’s able to finish one book in about 35 min! I have to admit, I was a little suspicious how quickly he can read these chapter books, so I found a clever way to test his reading comprehension by going to www.SoftSchools.com and having him take a multiple choice quiz on each book. He’s a smart cookie, so far he’s been getting a 100% on all!