A New Commitment

I love books, and I love movies. I love movies based on books. And I always read the book first. Allison and I both just finished reading Eragon. We are so excited to go and see the movie this weekend. Abby wants to see it too, but she hasn't read the book. Alli has alerted me to a double standard practiced frequently in our house. Abby always sees the movies, but never reads the book. Granted most of the movies I am referring to are Harry Potter, and she has said she is just afraid to read them. And I haven't read them either. But Alli has read all of them, and all of the Chronicles of Narnia, and all of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and every other book turned into a movie that we have seen.
Today I have realized another failure in my quest to be the perfect mother. A commercial came on for Charlotte's Web. Emma of course lets me know she wants to see it. I ask her,"What is Charlotte's Web?" Duh, a movie. "What else?" A video game. Really, are you kidding me? I know she is only five, but it's a book, a great book, a book we happen to own.
And I started to realize we have so many books. And I am always saying go look at a book. But I am not looking at a book with them. I think I must be setting a good example because I am reading all the time. It's one of my biggest escapes. And Emma and Kathryn do look at books everyday and every night get a short bedtime story. And Alli and Abby read a lot.
I wonder, out of all the Disney movies my children have watched, how many are books? And how many of those stories have we actually read? Because we have the Disney storybook versions. But I am thinking that I want my girls to know that Cinderella was a story long before Walt Disney built her a castle in Florida. And the Twelve Dancing Princesses were along centuries before a plastic doll made them popular. There were brothers named Grimm (and I'm not talking about Heath Ledger and Matt Damon!)
So a plan is in order. Abby wanted to get Where the Red Fern Grows from Blockbuster. I told her to check out the book from the library and when she was done, we will get the movie. She brought the book home. My Friend Flicka is on the list for Santa, I'm sure the movie will be on DVD soon. Bridge to Terabithia was a trailer at the last movie we saw. The girls of course want to see that movie. Great, we all have plenty of time to read the book.
Double standard is over, from now on we all read. And in my quest to become the perfect mother, I will spend more time reading quality books with my children. So I am going to continue to ignore the dishes in the sink and curl up with Emma on the couch, and read a few chapters of Charlotte's Web. And tonight Abby and I will start tackling Harry Potter together. I promise to hold her hand!
What are you reading??