The Reading Father

Yes I know it is mother’s day but this mother wishes to thank her father for instilling a habit of reading and library utilization in me at a young age.  My happiest memories today are reading to my kids and since it just happened this afternoon, I don’t have too far to go to reminisce. But it all started with a dad who took us to the library often.  I loved it. I had my favorite library, which was the Chicago Heights Public Library.  Maybe because it was bigger than the rest, I don’t remember exactly, but I do know that it had that something special that made me love it even more than all the rest.  My dad read to us at the library, he allowed us to check out books and bring them home and he read to us at home at well.

He also did something very horrific—he limited our TV viewing to 90 mins a day.  I know, if I weren’t in my 40s you’d be threatening to turn him into CPS for committing such a heinous crime. It’s funny, many women comment how they are becoming their mothers as the forge into middle age (wow that was painful) but me, no I think I’m becoming my dad more than I’ll ever be like my mom.  For one thing I hate shopping (love ya Mom!) but I do love to read and you know what? I only let my kids watch one program a day!  And we limit video games too!  Yes, we are rather archaic and that’s okay.  Turns out my dad knew what he was talking about.

But alas, even Dad had his faults. When I graduated from eighth grade, he bought me, at my request, my own TV set.  Must have been a weak moment.  But then we didn’t have cable TV just about 10 channels.  While we have many more channels at our house, most of them are locked.  Let’s face it, there just isn’t much worth watching. And we pay for this quality viewing!  Some years ago, a telemarketer made an argument I thought both humorous and almost convincing when I told him there was no point in us having cable because we didn’t watch much TV.  He said, “Oh then it’s even more important for you to have cable so that when you do watch, you have higher quality selection!”  Seriously. For the record we do have it now but not because of that fellow!

I have a confession to make, we only have two TVs and one of them is in my husband’s man cave (the garage). No one has a TV, or computer in the bedroom and my children do have their own cell phones but they cannot use them as much as they want or after a certain time at night.  My new favorite saying is “Be with the ones you are with!”  My kids love it! Yes, that last remark might be a tad laced with sarcasm.

But someday they will appreciate me and all my old-fashioned ways. Already I see it starting.  They all are bookworms though I believe they might choose TV over a book–it does pain me to say this.  My son is even like me a bit–he tends to inhale a new book and then go back and reread.  They call me “the reading mother”-after a poem in a book I bought years ago. But I can’t take all the credit.  It started some forty-odd years ago with the reading father. I am merely his prodigy.