Book Hour

Yesterday I instigated what I have decided is going to be a new regular event in our household - book hour.

I've realised that my daughter, while a very capable reader for her age, seldom actually ever sits down with a book at home. Sometimes she reads in bed but that is about it. She also borrows large amounts of library books that go largely unread. 

I'm also aware that I have neglected my own reading life hugely over the last few years. I used to blame it on being a single working parent and for a few years there was a lot of truth to that. When my daughter was little and I was working from home at night while looking after her during the day (not to mention coping with constant tantrums and 2 hour night wakings in addition to trying to meet deadlines) I was just so brain-dead and exhausted and stressed most of the time that the thought of trying to actually read a book was way too much effort. 

Frankly, sometimes it was too much effort to even follow a train of thought to its conclusion. I would often start to talk, only to forget what I was saying halfway through and would meander off into confused silence, like an old lady in a resthome. Which was fitting, as most days I felt 100 years old anyway back then.

(Memories of those days are also why I'm not the remotest bit clucky when I see other people with newborns or toddlers, no matter how cute they are. Best contraception ever.)

But now that she is at school I seldom work nights anymore because I can generally get my work done during the day. And she seldom wakes up at night anymore. And it only takes about half an hour to get her to bed as opposed to the two hour tantrum-fest it used to be, so it's all so much easier. Even the attitude I sometimes get from her is nothing compared to the difficulty of those early days. But despite things getting significantly easier, I still have done very little quality reading. (Grabbing an easy read from the bookcase that I've already read 20 times doesn't count.)

I can no longer blame childraising/work for my dearth of quality reading time. Instead I blame television and the internet, and laziness. Actually I blame those things for my daughter's lack of reading time as well.

When I was growing up I was a voracious reader. I grew up in that weird family down the road who didn't have a telly. Having a computer in your house was unheard of in those days. As for the internet, it wasn't even invented yet. We'd spend a lot of evenings sitting in the lounge, with everyone reading. 

Times have changed with technology. I think we have become lazier in a lot of ways, including our ways of entertaining ourselves. 

And a good book does take a bit of effort, both to find and sometimes to fully understand, and the TV and the internet spoon-feed you bite size bits of information with minimal effort. It's easy. Too easy sometimes.

Anyway I have been getting a bit bothered by the amount of time both my daughter and I spend on the computer, and watching TV. I really want to instill in her a love of books and reading. So yesterday I told her that from now on we were going to regularly have book hour once a week. In her case it can be book half-hour to begin with. 

So I prepared for book hour. I tidied the lounge and turned off the TV. I made us each a plate of our favourite snacks. I poured her a juice and myself a wine. I put some Chopin on the stereo and we settled down in relative silence with our respective books. It was luxurious. 

How did my daughter fare? She read her Magic Pony book nicely for quarter of an hour, then spent the next quarter of an hour asking how long there was to go. After half an hour she was released and bolted for the computer. 

About as much as I could expect for a first attempt, but next week we are doing it again. I'm sure she'll learn to love it as much as I do. I hope she does because book hour is here to stay.