Hi Michael, (a penni parenting persiflage post)
That's very nice of you! I'm taking a breather from trying to keep up with Feelings-- There must have been a thousand posts today... like the good ol' days-but I need my fix of home here where I can break out the Dom Perignon and the Puccini, fantasize with Thomas, tell silly stories with Alexa and Janice, throw words at Paul and Alex and duck when they reciprocate, and talk about family and life. It's exhausting trying to stay OUT of debates and away from confrontation. And I just have too much need to be frivolous, I fear, to think about abortion and cancer and child abuse without some downtime. But I'm so glad that everyone is roaming back and forth again. It feels WONDERFUL.
I've been meaning to write to Alex about this, and also mention it to you because your children are still very young. You know how important I believe reading to them is- that we did it nightly and long into the school years, far beyond when they were able to read for themselves. We only stopped reading aloud together when CW entered high school. I've noticed something interesting happening this year. The boys are leaving books for us on our bedside tables and these books often express conflicts and issues and feelings and dreams that we think they might be experiencing but are uncomfortable expressing directly to us. They know, though, that we all speak the language of "books", symbols and metaphors--or maybe they aren't even aware of doing it. We find we're being given insights into what's important to them now, and with teens, any information is helpful!
I guess I have no idea if there is a connection between our early reading and what we're seeing, but it seems possible. Read, read, read. And talk about what you read. And maybe, as some of the lines of communication break down as seems inevitable with adolescence, this slender link will still allow you to reach out to each other.
Do I sound like an AT&T commercial? |
