World Read Aloud Day

Happy World Read Aloud Day! This is one of my favorite days so far. I love, love, love reading. (I talked about that some here.) The kids and I love to sit on the couch and read a book or two . . . or three . . . four . . . Sometimes we just have a reading marathon. Sadly, it is getting a little more difficult for the 4 of us (ahem, 5 of us) to sit and read now that there's a little one who's given me a not-so-little belly and has taken over my lap. Zac is not happy about losing precious space on mommy. Not to mention, my arms aren't quite long enough to reach around him to hold the book comfortably. Oh well, I suppose that will be remedied in the next few weeks. 

When I realized that today was World Read Aloud Day, I got very excited. You don't have to twist my arm to make me read. I gladly accepted the challenge. As did the children.

We read quite a bit today, but not this much. The pegs on one of the boys' book shelves broke and my handy hubby just fixed them. The books were all sitting neatly in piles. 

Until Zac went in the room to "read." Jake piled the books up again. Zac scattered them once again. Our little 2-year-old is an avid reader. Or just a little stinker. 

Abusing books is one of my pet peeves. I do not like them being on the floor (unless we're studying something or having one of those marathon sessions.) I cringe when a page is torn. And don't even think about throwing a book! {shudder} Books are precious and need to be treated properly.

So, getting the bookshelf back in order was one of my projects today.

It took a while, but I feel much better now. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a bit OCD about some things? Books on a shelf is one of those things. The books have to be together by type (Berestain Bears, Clifford, Dr. Seuss, chapter book, etc..) Then, they have to be in order by size. Oh, and if two books are the same height, the fatter book has to be on the taller side. Also, I try as much as possible to keep the hard cover and paperback books with their own kind.

I admit, it's an obsession. But look how pretty it is! I have been known to walk past a shelf and fix a book or two that are out of place. Leighton doesn't even flinch at it anymore. He's gotten used to my crazy ways. Just think, we have another set of shelves in Alyssa's room, tons of books in our schoolroom,  a full-wall set of shelves in the basement, and more books than I care to count in boxes because they have no home. Have I also mentioned that I'm addicted to books? That's another obsession. I suppose there are worse things.

Like not owning books. Not reading. Not learning. Not exploring through the power of words. Not taking the time to read aloud to your kids.

So, if you missed out on today, that's ok. Just make up for it tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't tell.