Everyone's got hobbies.
At least I haven't met many people that don't. Not to be insensitive, but maybe you don't if
you're a homeless panhandler. Or in that
instance, could your job and hobby be the same thing? BTW, if you couldn't tell, I saw a homeless
panhandler this week. He even had a dog
and everything! Back to the task at
hand, one of my hobbies has always been reading. It doesn't really matter if it's fiction or
non-fiction. If I'm properly motivated
and on task, I can sit down and bust out 100 pages in an hour. Definitely one of those skill sets that was
extremely beneficial during my college career.
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| Do gifs from 'Beauty and the Beast' result in the forfeiture of my man-card? |
I bring this up because one of my goals for Ellie is to
instill a love of reading in her.
Obviously, the best way to do so is to read
aloud to her now. While normal protocol
would be to start with a fine helping of Dr. Seuss or Eric Carle, I've always
been one to buck normal protocol.
Therefore, I find myself reading strange things to her. Grocery ads, sports stuff (including
fantasy), reviews of television shows or movies, interesting news stories, 'Space
Jam' fan fiction. Ok, not the last one
if for no other reason than I'm not certain it exists. I even include Ellie in the reading of my
daily devotionals or bible reading times too.
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| I think I'm depressed that 'Space Jam' fan fiction does exist... |
There are times though when Ellie just needs to read one of
her own books. Either because her
attention span is too short for something I would choose to read or...well, pretty
much just because her attention span is too short for something I would choose to read. The problem with reading Ellie's books is
that they will become redundant at times.
For example, there's only so many times you can read a sweet, little story about a bunny that
spent the day hopping around the garden and is now ready for bed before madness
sets in. Therefore, I've found myself
figuring out way to entertain myself while reading Ellie's books.
For example, There's a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr.
Seuss. I've found that I actually have a
large percentage of the book memorized by now.
If you give me a page, I can normally tell you what's coming next. Or Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You
See? by Eric Carle. I've got a nice
little rhythm down now where I like to turn the book into a song. However, it kind of breaks down whenever I
reach the last page. Spoiler alert, it's
a review of all the animals we saw during the book. Since I can't sing it, I instead try and say
them all really fast in one breath.
Easier said than done but still fun.
 |
| Conspiracy Theorists are going to run wild with this... |
And then, of course, there's Animal Sounds. Literally the most breathtaking book ever published. I'm not certain, but the societal
implications of this book may have assisted in the tearing down of the Berlin
Wall. #NotHyperbole. In all seriousness, it's pretty much stuff
like "What Does the Cow Say? Moo." Now, while it's all well and good that Ellie
learns her sounds, by the second or third time through I've lost interest. So therefore, I've decided to take a cue from
Ylvis (yes, with a 'Y') and bust it out in the tune of "What Does the Fox
Say?"
WHAT DOES THE COW SAY?
MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO!
MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO!
MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO, MOO!
WHAT'S THE COW SAY? (Me reading this book probably should be on YouTube)
I do have a slight fear as a result of this. Someday when Ellie goes to preschool and is
practicing animal sounds, are Bethany and I going to get called in for a
special parent-teacher conference because her teacher is worried about Ellie's
mental health? It's not particularly
normal for children to practice animal sounds by singing "What Does the
Fox Say?". Or at least not when I
was growing up. Things do tend to change though. #DaddyWrite
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