Life Without Stories
Seriously I have no idea what to do with this girl of mine. The girl just does not like being read to. It was ok when she was 1, started getting frustrating by the time she was 1.5 but now that she is 2, I’m feeling sad about it!
There is this whole world of toddler books that I have such fond memories of reading to my boys. They weren’t all book lovers of equal caliber but they were all willing to let me read to them by the time they were 2, for sure! Recently I was looking through the toddler board books and stories saved from 13 years of parenting and feeling so weepy that I can’t share those stories with my girl.
It isn’t that she HATES books. She THINKS she likes books and she likes to TALK about books. A lot. She will sit on our laps ALL DAY lifting flaps, patting bunnies and counting ice cream cones. But GOD FORBID I should THINK about reading the actual text on the page and its all over. She firmly turns the page with what is as close to the statement “Shut up and stop reading, you are ruining my experience” as can be expressed through a simple page-turn. Or she shuts the book and runs off to play.
I know there is learning to be done and there is value in the lifting, patting and counting. Blah. Blah. and Blah. But the STORIES! They are the things that magic is made from! They are the reason that kids want to learn to READ! And WRITE! They are the imagination, the dreams of childhood. What is a book without its story?
I will keep growing her collection of amazing folk tails, rhyming Seuss, magical adventures. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to share them with her. We’ll keep offering to read to her at naps and bedtime, a stall tactic she has just recently discovered, in the hopes that maybe she’ll eventually LISTEN to the story. Is it possible for a child to go throughout their ENTIRE life and never listen to a single story?!?!
And here we are, video evidence of her avoidance behaviors….I assure you it was NOT bedtime despite what she might have you believe, so excuse the pajamas and bed head!! You KNOW it’s bad when your 2 year old is playing naptime to get out of reading!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
*L* I guess some kids just prefer to make up the stories for themselves. But I can understand you being sad about her not wanting to be read to. It is one of the things I look forward to doing with my daughter when she gets home. She better like books!
June 29th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Have you thought about writing a story with her to turn into a book with drawings, etc? I’ve done that with my little boy, had it laminated and bound at Staples. He loves it, and loves it because he was part of creating the story. I’m pretty passionate about books myself, so I can understand your hurt at what appears to be her disinterest in listening. But she’ll get there eventually, I bet.
Nicki reply on June 29th, 2008 9:34 pm:
This is such a great idea!
June 29th, 2008 at 5:48 am
heee….
so funny turning out the lights.i love her:)
June 29th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I grew up with no tv, so my childhood was spent reading and playing outside. I LOVE books. I assumed my kids would be the same and I was so sad when my son wasn’t interested in stories as a toddler. He was slower to read because he just wasn’t interested or ready to listen to stories, but I am thrilled to tell you that he is now 10 and loves to read -in fact sometimes I have to tell him to stop reading (!!) so we can get going in the morning!
We found books on cd to be very helpful once we got to the “chapter book” age as he would listen in the car and then when we read the actual paper version at home, he already had a bit more interest in the story.
so there’s hope for your girl yet!!
And she is darn cute even when she’s avoiding the story!
Nicki reply on June 29th, 2008 8:51 am:
Whew! Good to know! I actually had a similar experience with music in my own life and children who subsequently hate music. I can’t say they have so much grown out of it, unfortunately! So I’m glad to hear the same doesn’t necessarily hold true for reading!
June 29th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Tank Boy never let me read to him, which was soooooo sad!!!!! Now, however, he is starting to get into it. He lets his dad read to him at bedtime, and he’ll let me read to him somtimes. Unfortunately, I got into such a habit of not reading to him, and so used to my older girls reading to their younger sister, that I’m completely out of the habit of reading to my kids every day. S-A-D!!!! I need to work on that, especially now that he’s finally getting interested in books.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Aw, that’d make me so sad too! I’m a book freak to an extent and I’ll be crushed if my D doesn’t love books too (though I admit I really need to start making it more of our daily routine right now - I feel like I’m already behind). I love the idea of having her make up a story with you to become her book - I could see her getting into that since she, uh, likes to be in control (hehe). Does she have any interest if she gets to pick the book for herself from the store or library? In watching her with Tony I’d say I think she’s on the verge of liking books and being read to - call me crazy, but I think it’ll come I bet she just needs to do it on her own terms.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Have you tried picking up a book and reading aloud without asking for any participation from her? Or maybe reading to one of her dolls while she is doing something else nearby.
Nicki reply on June 29th, 2008 9:34 pm:
That’s a great idea! Tony does read to Noah every night with Addison in the room and that has been going on for awhile now and she’s rarely been interested. I’ll try that during the day though!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I would love to know what happens if you try. If you do try it you might choose a short book so that you can easily read all of it pretty quickly. The idea being to hear a beginning, middle and end. You might try reading the same book the next day. If you used the doll you can say oh, dolly wants to hear that book again!