The reader, and packing up Christmas

Tonight, Phillip read me a book at bedtime. No, he doesn't memorize; he can read pretty much anything. He's three. He's been able to for awhile, and reads things all of the time, but he usually prefers me to read books to him. Which I do - I try not to put any pressure at all on any sorts of academic things. And since he's able to read already, something must be working. Each day, I write him a little morning message on the little white board we have on our fridge, and he seldom has any difficulty reading about what's going on that day. I especially love it now that he's able to forget that he's reading when he is- he took a little break on Christmas morning to take one of his books aside and do some silent reading. Yes, I know that this is abnormal, no, I'm not making it up or exaggerating, and yes, we're thinking about how to make school not a completely boring place for him. I am thinking about it a lot. We're lucky to have the option of enrolling him in a French school or in French Immersion, so one of those will definitely be for him. We still have a little while to decide, and I'm trying to be relaxed about the whole thing. I think it's a little bit tougher because I work in all kinds of classrooms and know the system a bit. He's much further ahead in reading than lots of kids way beyond grade Primary (kindergarten). Then there's all of the social things to think about, and if he'll be with any of his friends... Ahhh, that's enough serious talk for tonight. Here he is, playing on my iPod Touch. A treat he enjoys every now and then.


I'm itching to get all of my Christmas decorations neatly packed up and put away until next year. All of the time, I'm less and less into shopping and more into purging stuff and making the most of what we have. I did buy a couple of things this week, though. I found some fabulous cards to send out next year, half price, and some colored LEDs for the tree. We've had a sad, mismatched tree light situation for a few years now involving some non-"warm white" lights, and I'm over the idea of white lights on the tree. They're too serious. So next year, we'll be back to fun colored ones. It sets a certain mood, which I think the boys will appreciate. I distinctly remember the ones from our tree when I was a kid, and I must have stared at them for a long time. They're really kind of magical.

I'm starting to think ahead to 2011 and what it might hold - 2010 was such a lovely year, if I could, I would do lots of it over again. The boys are asleep; I just might get out a pen and start some list-making. I hope that you're enjoying the last days of 2010!