Getting past "Goodnight Moon"

(UPDATE: I'm linking this post to Tammy Is Blessed's Mom2Mom meme; the topic is Encouraging Our Children's Relationship With Jesus", and this just seemed to fit right in)




When Bug Hunter was very little (days old~seriously), I started reading to him. I think the first book was either "Guess How Much I Love You" or "Love You Forever". Either of these is a really, really bad choice for a new mother overburdened with hormones to read to her tiny little bundle of newborn sweetness. But still, I fell into a habit of reading to my little man, sometimes more than just at bedtime. (And when he was about 4, I began to tell him stories, and to THIS VERY DAY that plagues me, because he still wants to hear a boy hero story every morning on the way to school. And when you've stayed up late working on something for school or church or Scouts, trying to come up with a new story after you have told, literally, over a thousand? It's hard, and Bug isn't amused when I try to turn it around and ask him to tell ME a story. But all of that is a post for another day.) Oh, and does anyone else still have those "favorite" books that were read over, and over, and oooover... in hopes that someday, you can read them to a grandchild? Just wondering. Anyway, I do also expect the Bug to read to himself, and this summer he's been reading the Imager series by Bill Myers. It's a good one for him, and if it weren't for the fact that reading reminds him of school, he'd really love it.
As for me reading to him, I still do it. We sometimes go for days without it, but there are times when a book practically falls into my hands and screams "Read me to the boy!!". I'm a pretty good listener, so when that happens, I tend to obey. Last weekend, Bug and I were talking about hiking, and I mentioned how easily deer can run up and down hills. That made me think about one of my all-time favorite books, and I asked him if he wanted me to read to him. Of course he said "yes" (because that usually is good for a bedtime delay of at least a few minutes), so I got my copy of "Hinds Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard and started reading.
I didn't know how long he'd hang in there with me; the book was written back in 1955 and has some stilted phrasing in places. But, I figured that I could read until he tired of the book, and hopefully he'd get at least a little something out of it. I got my copy from my dad's bookshelf in his "ham radio room" after he passed away, so if nothing else, the Bug could hold onto something that the PawPaw he never knew once held and read.
I've been surprised and very pleased at how much he loves this book; when I asked him tonight if he still liked it, he said "Do you think anybody in the world who loves God wouldn't like this book?" Huh. How do you answer that?
If you've never read it, I recommend it(here's a brief synopsis of the plot). And if you have read it but have never thought of either reading it to your child or having your child read it themselves, then I'd ask that you reconsider. It never occurred to me that, since it's an allegory, it actually HELPS a child to visualize and understand things that were hard to grasp before. Trying to explain craven fear, or pride, or bitterness and self pity to a child can be difficult; in this book, those things come to life and speak and act in ways that are recognizable. Dealing with sorrow and suffering can be intimidating, but after reading Hind's Feet, you learn to view them as companions given by God. In trying to understand things that just seem to be too much to bear, there is comfort in these words from Much-Afraid: "She had the feeling that somehow, in the very far-off places, perhaps even in far-off ages, there would be a meaning found to all sorrow and an answer too fair and wonderful to be as yet understood." I'm encouraged that my boy seems to grasp so much of the depth found here, and I'm excited to continue with him on Much-Afraid's difficult but ultimately rewarding journey. My biggest hope out of this experience is to give him insight and tools that he can use along the often difficult road of earthly life. And my biggest joy? Is being able to snuggle with my big boy who still isn't TOO big to let his mom read to him. How about you? What are you reading (or what DID you read) to your child?