We look forward to simple things in this house. For example, Monday is garbage day. Four and Five are big, big fans of garbage trucks. Well… anything on wheels in fact, and garbage trucks definitely qualify. It helps that they drive right by our house: garbage; recycling; compost. And each of the three trucks goes up the street past our house, and down the street past our house. For those as mathematically-challenged as I am, that’s six passes of big trucks past our front window. What makes it even better is that sometimes, while the truck is in sight of our front window, the man who runs alongside the truck will push a button that makes parts inside move, causing the garbage to be squished up and disappear. Moving parts are as fascinating to boys as wheels are.
Another cause for excitement is library day. Every two weeks or so, I go to the library, book bag in tow, to restock our supply of reading material. By ‘our’, what I mean is ‘their’. ‘Their’ being Four and Five… with a little One, Two, and Three thrown in. It’s fun for me, because I enjoy forging connections between people and the printed word (please note: I said ‘printed word’ very deliberately. Do not get me started on bound books vs. electronic publishing) and because by the end of two weeks, the literate in this house are ready for a fresh batch of story-time material. I like browsing the shelves for good books, and with each selection I wonder: is this going to be the favourite book of the bunch? Because there is always one that is a big hit, and gets read aloud at least 73 times a day. It could be about a duck driving a truck, an animal ABC book, or a story about an enormous potato (which Five calls the Bigtato book) The front runner this time seems to be one called Barney’s fingers, or something like that. It’s about a fish called Barney who has fingers. Get it? Fish fingers? You know… like fish sticks… oh, never mind.
Oh, I had forgotten all about that one with the duck and the truck... Lordy, how many times did I read that one....and you can't just READ them the story... you have to remember all the little bits that go with it.... count the zucchini's at the edge of the road where they got stuck in the mud because the stupid duck can't drive the truck and he crashed... and you have to do it RIGHT or be scolded within an inch of your life. Sigh... I love story time!! I, too, love to see which one comes out as the perenial favorite. I almost never get it right and this interests me deeply.
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