Sunday, January 01, 2006

Scottish Dances and New Year's Resolutions

I'm definitely getting old. I went to bed at 11:00 last night. Our new neighbors had invited us to a New Year's Eve party, but I really wasn't feeling well, so Griff went by himself and I stayed home with the kids. He went at about 9:00 and, while he did come home a few times to check on me, stayed until 12:30. I was shocked! Griff does not like parties. He had a great time at this one, though. Our neighbors (next-door, in fact) are from Scotland. They've only been here a few years, so their accents are still strong. Most of the people at the party were from Scotland. Some of the men were wearing kilts. They played Scottish music and had Scottish ale. They even did some Scottish dances. Griff was fascinated by all of it and really enjoyed it.

As far as the new year goes, I am making a New Year's Resolution. Typically, I don't do those. I believe that if there is something about your life you should change, you should do it anytime, not just January 1st. However, I read a book that influenced me, and I just finished it yesterday, so this whole resolution thing qualifies.

The book I read is
Honey For a Child's Heart. It is about finding the best books for your children. While it does this wonderfully (it has a great list for children ages 0-12), she also shares how books have influenced her whole family's life. That's what I want. I want shared memories around reading books. I want to read the Bible as a family. I want to share great (and even not-so-great) literature. I have always felt this has been a weak point for me. My children are great readers, but I don't think I can take the credit for that. I haven't read to them as I should since they were babies.

This is a perfect time to add this to our lives. Homeschooling lends itself to time together, reading. I'm hoping to involve Griff, but even if I can't, I want to share this with my children.

So, that is my New Year's Resolution. Read to and with my children. I'm not going to promise a certain amount of times on certain days, because I know myself, and that will lead to failure. I'm going to choose a book today and start reading it to them.

If you have children, I highly recommend this book. I got it at our library, but will be buying it. She has also written
Honey for a Teen's Heart (with Barbara Hampton) and Honey for a Woman's Heart. I will definitely be reading them both, although the former can wait a few years.

1 comment:

Sprittibee said...

I have been wanting to read that book for about five years or so! :) I'm glad to hear that it's as good as I had heard. I miss those sit down and read all the time days. I usually let the kids read and then skim the books after they are done... unless they are chapter books, and then I skim them first. We usually only read the encyclopedia type books together now... and the read-alouds for our units. The last really good one we read was "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. Right now, we are reading "...and now, Miguel" (a Konos assignment). It's pretty interesting.

I think your resolution is a great one. That party and your neighbors sound like a lot of fun.

Happy New Year and Happy Early Birthday!

God bless.