It's no secret that I have no children of my own. All my relationships with children in my adult life have been as the "stepfather", while most of the men around me have had the experience of being a "natural" father. I'm not complaining, mind you... my experiences as a "stepfather" are just as real and will stay with me just as long as any other experience I could have had... I'm simply setting the stage for my observations.
When Jambo relates stories about his children picking up books or listening to music that he listened to or read as a child, and attributing that to his genetic contribution to the child's makeup, I cannot deny the reality of his sentiments. Until you meet his children (especially if you knew Jambo as a child, which I did), you cannot appreciate how much like HIM they really are.
In less than two weeks, I will have adopted Jacob as my son. His new birth certificate will list me as the father, his name will be my name, and he will, for the rest of his life, be my responsibility as his father. We have had the delicate job of trying to get him ready for the fact that his last name is going to change, and I'm not sure he fully understands why this is happening, he is coming to grips with it.
I don't expect drastic changes in behavior or in how he interacts with me once the adoption is final. In fact, as I have said here in the past, I can't feel any closer to the child, or love him any more than I already do, simply because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gives us a new birth certificate. It is simply a "technicality" that will ensure that Jacob's best interests are provided for in the future, and that less-than-wholesome influences from "blood relatives" are as removed from his life as possible.
However...
I come home from work last night at about 9 pm, and walk into a quiet, still house. No TV, no yelling, no running around... in short, not at all what I expected to walk into. Liz is Facebooking, Katey is Facebooking.... and Jacob is sitting on the couch READING A BOOK.
This isn't homework... this isn't a comic book or a game manual... this is The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. Hard-bound, more than 100 pages, and his first AR book on a (far too short) list of recommended reading for a complete grade level AHEAD of the one he's at now. He brought it home from the library yesterday afternoon, read it all afternoon, lay down in bed and read another couple of chapters, and woke up this morning to read some more (he's still doing it now). When I mentioned that Dahl wrote LOTS of books just like Mr Fox, he said he wanted to read them all, and that he had LOTS of room on his shelves for all those books.
It can't be genetics, since I have no biological connection to the child whatsoever (other than the fact that he shares every single sniffle, cough and wheeze that he brings home from school with me). If it isn't genetics, then it must be environmental... something I brought to the table when I became part of his life. I wasn't able to instill the love of books in Jacob's brother and sister as much as I would have liked... but I have high hopes for him.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator... all will be in this house as soon as possible, so that I can further establish and entrench the addiction of reading in my son. I have all the Narnia Chronicles (except Voyage of the Dawn Treader... lost in the storm), and I think they are on-par with what he is reading now. His brother has all the J K Rowling books, and I'm sure the first two will be easy enough for him to absorb... I'm confident that I can succeed here, no doubt about it.
Seriously, though... it's been too long since I have had to think about books at this sort of age level. What else were we reading when we were kids? Second-grade stuff, you know... Narnia, The Hobbit, The Last Mammoth... what else? What other books can I introduce him too that WON'T make him feel overwhelmed?
While I was typing this post... he finished Mr Fox. He has now explained to me at great length how upset he is that the book is OVER. Jacob has now completed more actual reading in less than 24 hours than his 15-year-old brother did in an entire summer (he never even finished Silas Marner... to my utter distress).
What do your kids read?
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