What’s up with hiding books?

There comes a point at any given day that I have to shake down my son’s bed. And without fail, I will find books hidden under pillows, stuffed between blankets, or wedged between his bed and the wall. I ask him, “what’s up with hiding books?” He has no answer.

I have a long-established desire for Wyatt, my son, to have an overwhelming love of reading.

At the library.

It is important to me, as a book lover myself, but also just developing his own love for the written word. While applying my Mommy Magic strategy to make it appear that he developed this love all on his own, I failed to recognize it could lead to sneaky late night reading. We battled over this all Spring. A few times I would randomly stop by his room after having tucked him in, to find him in bed, in the dark, reading. To which he would plead he couldn’t sleep. Well, duh you can’t sleep because you’re reading. But I can’t really get mad. Obviously I love that he has an insatiable hunger to read. What I don’t love is the over tired child who arrives at 4:30PM. Talk about hell on legs with an attitude as big as Montana, and an inability to control ones emotional outbursts. And no, I’m not describing myself…well at least not this time.

There is a kid behind that book.

I tried to convince to convince him the best time to read was during the day, or at least when it is light out. I’ve even taken to giving him incentives for completing reading time during awake time. But like me, it is hard not to fall prey to snuggling into a warm bed with a great book. Diving into a great story about someone else’s drama is a great way to soothe the soul, after dealing with an over tired child.

He’s probably not going to stop sneaking a little reading time after being tucked in. And I probably will continue to find books stashed in between his sheets. I’ll keep encouraging him to read like there is no tomorrow. I’ll keep taking to the library as often as he asks me. And I will keep finding patience for my tired child. Because having a child who loves to read…what the pickles? It is nothing to complain about.