Last week Cooter hit another milestone. He has been reading this same book off and on for a couple of months. A little bit at the time, minus the several days in there when he thought he had lost the book. (I believe it was found in his abandoned “Indiana Jones” backpack.)
Cooter finished reading “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”
Y’all. The excitement in our house when he finished–it was palpable.
His oldest sister grew up with the books and movies. She was able to watch the movies as they came out because she grew up with the characters. Her siblings do not have that luxury, because all the movies were made long before they had even heard of Harry Potter.
To slow down the requests of the littles to watch the movies, I’ve invoked the rule as Headmaster of Zoo Crew Academy that one must read the book in full before watching the movie. (Being Headmaster is cool like that.)
So you can see why he was so excited. He was ready to watch that movie.
I am excited because he is reading so well. His handwriting might still look like chicken scratch that only he and I can interpret, but by golly, my boy can read.
I’ll take it.
He had to wait a day for his big sister to come home from college. They had agreed to watch it together. I’m glad it was only a day. As it was the littles were just about camped out at the end of the road, waiting for her arrival. When she got here, they were thrilled.
It was everything they had imagined and then some. They loved it. And it was so rewarding for them to know they’d earned it by reading the books first. I love hearing their conversations comparing the book and movie. It was hilarious when our Princess got frustrated with me because I forgot something that had happened. It’s been a few years since I’ve read the book and seen the movie.
At the first of this week, I was discussing scheduling of a couple of potential summer activities. Our Princess was standing there, and she heard me trying to figure out if two things would be at the same time.
“Oh that’s no problem, Mama. I can just get a timeturner and use it.”
Bless her. She’s still waiting on her letter from Hogwart’s too. She will, after all, be eleven this year.
A timeturner is a device used in the third book by one of the main characters who has more than one class scheduled at the same time. With this necklace she is able to go back in time and take the classes at the same time. So to speak.
When my girl suggested that she might need one (and was totally okay with that, I might add), it hit me like a cold, wet rag in the face.
Wait.
I turned to her. “Baby girl, if we need a timeturner to get it all done, we have too much on our schedule.”
I think I was telling this to myself too.
As the excitement of wrapping up the school year grows and my oldest moves back home for the summer, I see all of these wonderful options and projects and things that would be great popping up–on newsfeeds, in emails, on flyers. And while I don’t intend to hole up all summer in my Roost with a stack of books close by (oh my, give me just a minute–I went to another place for a moment *sigh*), I don’t think we need to sign up for all the things this summer. So many good things out there, but so many good things can turn into a stress-filled summer of staying in the road and on the go. While I’m proud our Princess is a problem solver, I am not happy that she thinks running hither and yon is the norm.
Oh me. I think we all need a stay-cation.
As we all come upon the good things out there, let us remember it’s only good if we still have some empty space in our day to dailies. To breathe. To visit. To simply be. There might just be such as thing as too much good.
And may we, none of us, ever need a timeturner to do the things that fill our hearts and feed our souls.
Love to all.
I Might Need A Nap 