Mom, Will You Read This?

A few years ago when Jacob's reading ability exceeded his grade level and he struggled to find something that interested him at school, I started reading books on his AR (accelerated reading) list just to make sure they were appropriate . . . or at least to be prepared for any questions he might have.  After all, the books were listed as "teen" and I definitely wanted to know what my son was reading if it was intended for a teenage boy :).  I never realized that his younger sister was watching and learning until last month.

"Our teacher might assign us a new book in walk-to-reading.  He says he assigned it last year but some kids found it disturbing - will you read it?"

"Sure."

So I checked it out of the library and read it.  And yes, I found it disturbing.  Not the part about surviving 54 days in the Canadian wilderness, the main part of the book, which I found quite inspiring.  It was the short part at the beginning and the end that bothered me.  The part where the protagonist sees his mother kissing another man followed by a divorce a short time later. And the part at the end where the boy can never quite bring himself to tell his bewildered father what happened to his marriage or tell his mother why he can never quite trust her again.  Like so many modern movies, books and media in general - was this part of the story really necessary?  Did it add to the main story line of survival?  No.  It just forced me to talk about what it means to "cheat" on one's spouse with my kids.  To talk about how destructive divorce is and how important trust is, especially in a marriage.  And finally, to stress very strongly to my children that they don't have anything to worry about because THEIR mother would never do anything like this to their Dad.  THEIR family will stay intact.

I'm glad Charlotte asked me to read that book.  I'm glad she wants my input.  I hope it comes from our discussions of books she's read in the past and my straight answers to her questions.  My life's goal is to build relationships that hold us together for eternity.  I'm sure when my kids are teenagers, the communication will lesson a bit, but hopefully, the underlying trust I'm trying to build here will not.  And I hope that when things get tough, they'll know they can always turn to David and I and we'll be straight with them.