Hello, My name is Connie and I can't stop reading.

I used to believe that I was never an avid reading as a child. I mostly remember being outside playing with my sister and the other kids in the neighborhood. All. The. Time. But when I really thought about it and tried to remember what I read, I had a longer list than I realized.

• Weekly Reader books (sent to the house monthly but I really only remember trying to read The Ghost of Windy Hill)
• Sweet Valley Twins series (high school)
• Most of Maya Angelou's books (college)
• Jack Kerouac books (college)
• Charles Bukowski (college)
• Toni Morrison books (college)
• Gone with the Wind (grad school)
• East of Eden (grad school)
• Lord of the Rings trilogy

And many others. I had decided to read some of the classics after high school because I never really read any. And by classics,here is a list what I mean: A Thomas Jefferson Education. Oh sure, we read Julius Ceasar and MacBeth. How to Kill a Mockingbird. But my teachers taught them because it was part of the curriculum and not because they loved them, with one exception. My senior year in high school, Coach Tesh taught MacBeth. He loved that play. We spent so much time on it because he loved it. We squeezed every once of interest from it that I got a 100% on the test. His love for it made me, at the very least, like it. He gave me a silver dollar for being one of a handful of kids in the class to ace that test. I still have it.

A "classic" is a work that's worth returning to over and over again because you get more from it each and every time.

I have become an avid reader over the years. I am NEVER without a book (or books) downloaded to my Kindle. Before that it was actual books then my Nook. I have read hundreds of books. Not all classics and not all worthy of a second read. But I read. Everyday. All the time. Lately, I feel like it has become a problem. I don't' want to stop. And now that summer is here, I want to sit and enjoy book after book. I keep hoping that my love of books will rub off on James. He will read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Berenstein Bears books and some hero graphic novels on his own. He also has totes around his mythical creature book and gets two magazines in the mail. Any chapter books he has, we read together. I am sure that I will read aloud to him until he is a teenager if he wants me too. 

 I am reading 2 books about education so I won't feel so guilty about my "pleasure" books. I am seeking balance in my life between my love of books and life in general with my sweet boy and the responsibilities that come with being a mom, wife, homeschooler, interpreter, neighbor and friend.

While attending the North Carolina Home Educator's conference in May,  I went to at least two presentations about boys and academics. From that I learned about 2 great books that I am reading right now.

• A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching A Generations of Leaders in the 21st Century
• Boys Adrift: Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men

The more I read about the developmental differences between boys and girls, the more likely I am to seek out academic groups and activities that are just for boys. Or at least geared towards boys. For example, I am working on developing a boys-only book club with titles chosen that are about a boy(s) or is interesting to boys. I am also seeking activities (like soccer) that are not co-ed. The soccer league that James has played in for the last two years is co-ed all the way to the teenage years. As much as I loved that league, I want him to play on a boys-only team. Also, after reading the chapter about plastics in the Boys Adrift book, I went to Amazon and ordered glass food storage containers and threw out all my plastic. I also ordered a metal water bottle for James. Yes, that chapter was a serious eye-opener that moved me to action. 

In a nutshell, I love books. I love to escape and I like learning how to be a better parent and homeschooler. I like being informed. So, for now, I will continue to enjoy my fun books AND my "learning" books. James and I will finish reading his Magic Treehouse books and hopefully start a new one together. Reading is FUNdamental!!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets (with an update)

Tonight's main course was chicken nuggets. This is the only meat James will eat and only in this form. He has eaten grilled chicken and a slice of deli turkey that were sneaked into a grilled cheese sandwich by his father and then once by his Nana. He never knew the difference.

I wanted us to cook together and found a kid-friendly recipe on About.com of all places. There is something wonderful and motivating about eating what you yourself have cooked. It's also fun to cook a dish your parents will also eat.

We gathered all the ingredients. Flour, eggs, bread crumbs, olive oil, salt and pepper...and then the recipe called for hot sauce. James didn't like the sound of that AT ALL but I told him to trust me. We were getting our "stations" ready: 1st bowl was the flour seasoned with salt and pepper, the 2nd bowl was the egg wash. The 3rd bowl was the bread crumbs. We had to add 3 dashes of the hot sauce. I demonstrated the first dash and then asked James to add the other two He did great.

James spent his entire time in the kitchen talking. I mean it. He hardly took a breath. He talked about how healthy the chicken was going to taste. He shared with me that he put 18% salt and 80% pepper in the flour for seasoning. He said it was going to taste better than McDonald's chicken nuggets. He told me that he was the Master Chef and that I- well, I was just basic.


James LOVED being the in the kitchen and making a dinner that we, his parents, were going to eat. Having ownership of what will be served was very exciting for him.

But, in the end, you can see in the picture on the right, he looks less than enthused with dinner. He likes being in the kitchen but he is still struggling to enjoy dinner. Even when he makes it. And it's served with a side of one of his favorites, macaroni and cheese.






Update: Since I began writing this post, James has tried more new food. Spaghetti squash has been a good choice. He also ASKED for Angel Hair with Alfredo for dinner. He eats it one piece of pasta at a time. He has also made a kid-friendly salad (no dressing for him): romaine lettuce, red grapes (halved) and pecans. He was able to use a knife for this and didn't want to stop cutting and slicing. He has since requested bread for dinner so he can be in charge of slicing it. I also tried making honey-glazed carrots. Those were a hit! He won't eat raw carrots but if they have been softened up and drizzled with honey and a little brown sugar, well, that is just a totally differently thing!