Just Like That

He did it.

And then went back for more.

I have read to the child from the beginning, and it wasn't always easy; he's not a sit and listen kind of kid. I read to him as he climbed up and over and along the back of the couch. I read as he hung upside down or played with trains, and if I stopped he would look up and tell me to keep reading, so I did.

We made the jump into chapter books with "Where the Red Fern Grows" reading hours at a time in the summer shade on the trampoline and then again on the couch that night, his excited rubbing hands at his nose. Naturally I thought he would eventually pick up a book on his own, get lost in the pages and ignore me when I called...years slipped by as we meandered through book after book. Occasionally, I would have him read a page or two of every chapter, and he read well....and he still would hand the book back to me, content to just listen.

I worried he would never pick up a book on his own, that this one who lives life to the fullest might miss this life opportunity. I worry too much.

Tonight he finished his very first chapter book, only stopping to tell me the funny parts, and then when it was my turn to read, and he was already deep in a second book he asked me to wait while he finished, so I did. I just sat there and watched him as he read silently on the couch turning pages 'til he got to the end of the chapter and then sneaking a look at the next page.

Hmm...just like that.

My heart stopped for a second as it realized what we had been working towards for so long happened in it's own time anyway, and I felt happy and amazed, and a little left out.