I'm a Beary Good Reader

The kids have a lot going on at school. Sometimes it seems that I too have a lot going on at school. Not that I mind being involved, mind you. (Except... I'm not too crazy about all the things I have to buy for the classroom. And could they give me more notice when I do need to buy something so that I don't end up at WalMart late at night (7:30 PM! Gasp!) trying to find the right kind of socks to send in the next day for a darn puppet?!?)

Ahem.

Where was I?

Oh yeah... a lot going on...

One of the many things that is required of parents is too keep track of the books the kids read at home. The teachers send home blank forms (my son's is titled "Books (insert name here) Has Read" and my daughter's form is titled "Beary Good Readers". I hate that "Beary". It hurts me. A lot.) and you write in every book you or your child read and send a form in for every ten titles read. Evidently, there is a prize for 50, 100, 200, etc...

Well, (and you knew there would be a well with me, didn't you?) I've been diligently writing down the title of every single book we have read. Library books, school library books, old books they've had since they were more interested in eating them than reading them - all of the above. And I thought we were coming along nicely. Until I heard from my son's teacher that some students are nearing their 100 books. And we're still somewhere in our 30's.

I heard that and was stricken with horror. Am I not reading enough? How exactly am I going to fit more books into their day? And it brought back memories of last year when my son started at this school mid-year and at the end of the year there was a presentation of all the students who read above and beyond their "Beary Good Reader" requirements and they all got awards except him because I didn't know I was supposed to keep track of the books we read and, dammit, we read lots of them and now he didn't get an award and was it too late to write down the titles because I think I can remember some of them and please let me know that it is something I'm supposed to do next time!

Sorry, a little emotional about it all.

So now I'm wondering why it is we are behind some of the kids in total number of books read. Do their parents have other people come in and read books to their children? Like a pinch reader? Or do they really read, like, 10 books a night? I'd like to think it's because here at our house we spend more time discussing the book and going over words and illustrations; we are about quality, not quantity. (That's what I'd like to think.)

So you can see that I'm now on a mission to include more books on their lists, lest they be behind, and not "beary" good readers after all. I have started to write down the titles of the books they read for homework, like The C Book and also All About Me. While they may not be books that are cataloged at the local library, they are technically books, right?

I've also started to consider writing down books that we would have read, if those darn kids didn't get so tired at night. (What, don't you think that counts?) And maybe I'll write down books we see on TV. And I'm even considering writing down books that they see me read. Because I am an avid reader and often read a book a day.

You don't think their teachers will think something is awry when they see the titles Always Time To Die and Twice Kissed on the kids' lists, do you?