This past week was the first of summer with all three boys at home. It was a blast! We are still working out the hitches, though. Emil’s nap time in particular has been tricky. He can sleep for 2 – 3 hours every afternoon, which is fantastic; he wakes up refreshed AND it forces the older boys to be calm and take a break in the middle of the day, so there’s a good block of time where we all get to rest. But keeping them quiet has proven difficult. Oliver’s regular voice alone breaks the sound barrier (no, seriously, it’s a siren), but add their conversations and sometimes arguments to the mix, and I’m pulling my hair out trying to keep them quiet!
Also, I didn’t want to set the stage for the entire summer of the older boys just watching a show on our computer every single day during Emil’s nap. I’d like to keep screen time to a bare minimum, but I also need a break… see my dilemma? But I think we’ve found a solution, and you’re probably going to laugh:
Audio CDs checked out from the library! Yesterday Milo and Oliver were in heaven lying on their bellies on the rug next to our old cd player/radio listening to Henry Huggins for hours. Beverly Cleary, my friends, is a genius. And I think we’re on our way back to the library to check out a whole lot more of those!
Of course, Milo is reading up a storm this summer already (he logged 6 hours in 3 days, which is a lot for a 6-year-old I think, and he’s loving Magic Tree House books), but this is something he and Oliver can do together, which I think we all really appreciate. Plus, unlike the zombie-faces they get when watching something, they are so engaged when they are listening to stories; you can see the wheels turning, and they do other things while listening, like put together puzzles or doing word cards. Even when they are just lying there, you can tell they are using those imaginations to fill in the details of the story. Such a great thing!
P.s.- I’m currently reading Tell The Wolves I’m Home (great so far) and recently finished Where’d You Go, Bernadette (really funny, I loved it!) and Eleanor and Park (good, but not my absolute favorite).
P.s.s.- I’m reading to the kids aloud: Sideways Stories from Wayside School and the boys fall down laughing they love it so much!
I’ll have to borrow some more books on CD for my girl. Now that kindergarten is done, my husband is a little nervous about how she will fill her time at home while he’s there working. This may be a huge help!
Now that I have some perspective on Eleanor and Park, I think that it resonates with certain age groups more than others. I identified with it on many levels, not least of which that it is set in the 80’s. I was a teenager then, so the memories of the music and clothes came flooding back. That being said, my 18 year old niece loved it, and spent a lot of time on the author’s website and enjoying the music the author talked about there.
I’m having a really tough time getting into my bookclub book, Beautiful Ruins, so I’m thinking about borrowing Life After Life from the library instead. 🙂
I love your “reading” posts so much! Jackson also LOVES audio books, which we always have on in the car! I will have to check out Beverly Clearly (I was so devoted to Ramona when I was 7 that I cut my bangs like her) for Jackson. We recently read aloud Judy Blume’s “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Super Fudge” which he LOVED! We are also fans of the Magic Tree House series, but he is a little while from reading them on his own. I am always looking for read-aloud suggestions, so keep ’em coming!! 🙂
My girls love audio CD’s – especially in the car. If he’s loving Magic Tree House books, then he might also really love Nate the Great books.
Where’d You Go Bernadette was a riot –
I just finished The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North. It was outstanding. Gripping, inventive, and the best story of vengeance since The Count of Monte Cristo. I loved Eleanor and Park, but it was a little like having an emotional tsunami in my brain. Rainbow Rowell’s “Attachments” is far more witty and a great deal lighter in tone. Which, I sometimes think, you need in the summer.
I love that idea! I got some great kids music CDs from our library recently, as well as jean craighead George’s The Wolves are Back on cd. (It’s a short book.) Lucy couldn’t quite stay focused on listening but I loved it, haha. I need to read a good novel, just finished Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. I was surprised at how much I thoroughly enjoyed it!