A few weeks ago, Ainsley's school held a Scholastic book sale as a fund raiser. I can't resist these because they offer great books, almost always in paperback, and they are cheap. What's even better is that you can now order online and have much more to choose from than what is offered on the flimsy fliers that are sent home with the kids. Apparently, I took the prize at school for the largest book order. It is safe to say the kids are set for new books for a few months at least.
Tonight they were extremely tired and irritable. They fought each other during dinner, they fought us about eating dinner, and they argued about whether or not they should take a bath. When I was about to come unglued myself at all the bickering, I decided to try something different. I told them that whoever finished his/her dinner in silence could pick out a new book for a bed time story. It worked. And even if they had not been completely successful at either being quiet or eating everything on their plates, I still would have rewarded them - because that's my prerogative.
Ian chose a Skippyjon Jones book. Skippyjon is a Siamese cat with extremely large ears and an even larger imagination. He gets into trouble quite often and is sent to time out in his room. There he enters a world with his superhero superego, Skippyjon the Chihuahua. There is an entire Skippyjon series, and it is hilarious. Both of my kids crack up when one of us reads the lines of his Chihuahua friends with a Spanish accent. Although I sometimes feel like I am doing a Taco Bell commercial, Ian and Ainsley go to bed in a terrific mood when they get to laugh before the lights go out.
Ainsley, although in deep denial about her level of lucidity, managed to stay awake for two readings of the book she chose. Puff the Magic Dragon - yes, the very one! And it even came with a CD! So now my kids can learn the magic of smoking pot. Ooops, that's just an urban legend. [Honestly, I never heard that theory until I was in college. That's when Sam, one of my neighbors, told me that my favorite song from childhood was about smoking marijuana. I was crushed! Sam looked like the character "Skippy" from the t.v. show Family Ties, but with a raw and rebellious skateboard-riding, cigarette-smoking, Ray-ban-wearing, anti-Magic Dragon personality. Deep inside I refused to believe the legend because I knew Sam was just trying to mess with me and was not to be taken seriously about most opinions he expressed.] We listened to the CD while she got ready for bed, then I read the book through the first time. The second time through was with Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, and Mary - could it get any better???) and his daughter Bethany singing the lyrics.
The artwork in this book is enchanting. I didn't have pictures to help me understand the story when I was Ainsley's age; but let's face it - the lyrics are fairly straight forward...for typical children. I was a little worried she wouldn't quite "get it". So, as we went through each page, we looked at the pictures and discussed the less obvious aspects of the story. We examined facial expressions and tiny details that might otherwise have been missed if we had just read the words through and then closed the book. Although the song leaves us to believe that Puff is lost without Jackie Paper, painter Eric Puybaret proposes the possibility that Jackie's daughter finds her way to Puff's cave . . . with her father's help, of course.
Ainsley and Ian went to bed with smiles on their faces tonight, the kind of smiles that are brought about by only a few special things:
A wonderful bedtime story
A feel-good song
Christmas Eve and the anticipation of Santa Claus bringing gifts
One of my mother's famous Hot Toddies, which she used to give us when we would run out of cough syrup
These were genuinely and warmly earned grins. I hope to see more of them.
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