Monday, January 24, 2011

What's simple, what's hard and what's worth it...

What's simple about being a parent? Enjoying and loving my kids.

What's hard about being a parent? Nearly everything, nearly all the time.

What's worth it? All of them. Ender, Za Boo, Monkey Boy, and Raven.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Update on Harry and Za Boo!

Za Boo's passion and excitement for reading have not waned a bit since she began reading 'Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone,' five weeks ago! She is figuratively devouring the series, already on to book four, 'Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,' and I am adoring it all the way!
She received some money and an Amazon gift card for Christmas from a few different relatives, and she is so excited about hte world of Harry Potter that she chose to use them them in combination to order a genuine Gryffindor scarf and a dvd of "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban," the third Harry Potter movie. She wants to have all the movies (we already have the first and second movies in the family dvd collection) because "Even if it's not that good an adaption, I can't really compare [the books to the movies] if I haven't seen them all." ;)
She recognizes that the movies don't nearly do justice to the books now, but that, again, is one of the things I love about this all! I LOVE that she is loving reading the book, and I LOVE that she is excited to discuss it after reading. And I LOVE that she is recognizing the differences between the book and the movie, and discussing those differences with the rest of us.
I love that she is counting chapters as she reads, and keeping me updated on what part she is at in the books. I love that we are discussing the books as she reads, and that, for the first time, there really is discussion to be had regarding a book she is reading (the 'Jack Russell Dog Detective' books are wonderful beginning chapter books, and she has enjoyed them, but they don't really bring a lot of hearty discussion material to the table!).
I love that she can't wait to get back to her book, every chance she gets, and that she has already read more in the five weeks since she checked the first book out from the library than she read in eight months on the previous novel she completed (Ozma of Oz). At the rate she is going, she may finish the entire Harry Potter series in under three months! We better start thinking about which series to start her on next!