Plant the seeds.

I have a feeling the sweet little seeds we are planting through reading will be much more productive than our Dollar Tree herb garden, but mama needs to do something other than read every now and again.  The kid would sit around and let us read all day to him if we would.  And it feels like we do sometimes.

We both try our hardest not to ever let on that we are sick of reading the same book for the 90th time, that week, and hopefully we are succeeding.  Fortunately, Hardin discovers a few "new" books to be obsessed with every couple of weeks or so.  Unfortunately, the subject matter never really gains too much parental interest.

We are always shocked by how quickly he can memorize a book.  After the first reading, he's got the rhymes down, and after the second he generally has the main words and illustrations down pat.  He "reads" along and gives books his own name.  Sometimes they are accurate, like The Wocket in My Pocket.  Others would send a stranger on a wild goose chase.  The ABC book (Dr. Seuss' Alphabet book) vs. the letters book (ABCs of golf).  The Bear Book is not a book at all, it's an old insert from a leap pad that he loves.  The Firetruck Book (a foam transportation book that has one tiny mention of a Firetruck) vs. the Fireman book (the book that talks about Fireman Joe).  Bless Me (Good Night, God Bless), Night Night book (Good Night Moon), etc.  It's hard to keep them all straight. 

Hardin liked the idea of planting our herb garden but it didn't last long.  The pouring and watering were great, but the dirty hands were not his thing.  If anything actually grows out of that Dollar Tree box I'll be VERY surprised.