Tales from the Trenches: My problem is one that most people would love to have.

My child reads.

She reads a lot.

It isn't generally a problem, unless at bedtime.

Last night, she was fully engrossed in the book, "Socks" by Beverly Cleary.  She went to bed at 8:35 PM.  I went in at 9:09 PM for the final tuck.  There was low light.  There was a reading pillow.  There was a flashlight.  There were huge eyes looking at me while a mouth was saying, "THE BOOK IS SO GOOD THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!"

"It's 9:09 PM, and you can read until 9:15 PM."

"Okay, Mom!"

:tick, tick, tick:

I went in at 9:22 PM and the reading situation hadn't changed.

"K, you HAVE to go to bed!"

"Okay, Mom!"

"Now."

So, she finally put the book away.  Turn now to this morning.  Oh my heavens.  It was a bear of a morning.  She wouldn't get out of bed.  She wouldn't get ready.  She didn't feel well.  She had a headache.  She had a stomach ache.  She had every complaint, but then wanted chocolate.

She went to the bus stop with a cup of dry cereal.  Yup.  That's all we could manage for breakfast.

This evening, we had a talk.

If she wants to read, she can go to bed at 8:00 PM and read until 8:30 PM.  That's what she did tonight.

Incidentally, she just finished the "Socks" book.  She said that it was wonderful and funny.

She will be up at 6:15 AM, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

She will get dressed, make up her bed, tidy a few things in her room and write her spelling words 3x each.  (She chose to finish her book this evening and that was the trade.)  Her bus comes at 7:40 AM, so she'll have plenty of time to work with AND! have breakfast at the table.

I have a readaholic.  It's not a bad thing, unless we're talking about a tired kid in the morning that won't move.

Have a great night!