Winding down with a good book

How does a voracious reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy get to be nearly 40 years old without having read the Chronicles of Narnia? Fortunately, thanks to the wonderful tradition of Bedtime Stories I am able to correct that deficiency.

Not all that long ago, I was always in the middle of one book or another. Then life happened, and I ran out of time for reading fiction the way I like to. I still read quite a bit, but only newspapers, magazines, and children's books. Then, seemingly overnight, Anna was old enough to appreciate books that also appeal to me, and suddenly I'm reading fiction again. As an added bonus, the once difficult-to-put-to-bed Alyssa will almost always fall asleep before a chapter is over.

I thought we were going to have to skip our chapter in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" tonight, because Anna had played so hard with her cousins that she was in bed before Alyssa - an almost unheard of event! But she made sure to stay awake long enough for one chapter.

We had dinner with most of the girl's aunties, uncles and cousins tonight, and it was the same old circus. What surprised me, though, is that when the cousins left, Anna didn't cry like she used to do. This was especially interesting as she will not be seeing them again until the summer. I suspect there will be a few tears at the airport as we wait to get on the plane. The girls love their cousins, and being a thousand miles from them has been the hardest part of this move.

Fortunately, the internet is a great tool for staying connected.

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