Breaking the code

While this may just look like a well framed photograph of "The Bear" reading in an entry way, it is not. This is historic documentation of the day he truly "Broke the Code".

What Code, you might ask? THE CODE. The one that opens up the world, the one that feeds our imagination, the one that can make us laugh, the one that can make us cry, the one that makes us better writers and communicators, the one that opens so many doors etc.

That right, I'm talking about the READING. Reading because you want to read.

The day was June 29, 2008. We were at my parents house and Robert had gone upstairs to use the bathroom. He'd been up there for a 1/2 hour or so and my uncle asked if he was OK. Knowing Robert 1/2 hour isn't that long, but I checked on him anyway. What I discovered was that he'd made himself at home in the bathroom and was sitting reading Asterix. The books had been my dad's and since this was the day after the Big Ass "Celebrating Bob" party, his choice of book, location and timing couldn't have been more fitting. But, I told him that other people needed to use the bathroom so he moved to the entry way. Then after awhile he moved to the couch.

And then he joined us outside.

It's not that I never thought he'd learn how to read or that he just learned out to read. He's actually been "reading" for at least a year or so, but it was forced and not natural.

It's been a long road. In the past few years, we've struggled and fought and forced him to read. We've listened to him read stories he obviously wasn't interested in. I say obviously because if you've ever heard a kid over enunciate and read painstakingly slow on purpose you get the picture. We've sounded out words. We've tried to write our own stories.

We said, "It'll happen". "We can't force it". And then we hoped.

Now, he loves to read. It's a natural default for him to pick up a book. At the moment they're comic-book style books but reading is reading. And the break through was humor. The books were finally making him laugh. And laugh he does, out loud and uproariously. He's read every Asterix book and Captain Underpants book in our local library. He's also made short work of the three Calvin and Hobbes books we left Florida with just a week ago.

I knew that we'd entered a new age on Wednesday when I took both kids to the Community Community Center. The Bean went to the childcare room but the Bear who's now at 8 too old for the childcare room, sat in the lobby and read for the entirety of my work out. Not a peep, not a problem, and no crazy behavior just reading

Welcome to a whole new world, Bear. Keep reading!!