Storytime

I hope my daughter-in-law will forgive me for tampering with this sweet recent photo of her reading to the twins. I did so for two reasons: one, when she reads books to her baby girls, I am reminded of the movie "You've Got Mail" (a classic!)--that is, of Meg Ryan playing story lady Kathleen Kelly reading aloud to a group of kids at her bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, wearing a conical damsel's hat; and two, I just discovered this wondrous thing on my computer called "paint," which allows you to do all sorts of crazy things to your photos. Like give people silly hats. It only took me about thirty tries to produce this decidedly unprofessional-looking doctored photo, but it's a start.  (And it's kinda cute, isn't it?)

My girl, reading a book to her girls.

My not-quite-nine-month-old granddaughters are a couple of lucky ducks indeed, because their momma is a librarian--and that means she loves books and realizes how important they are. She reads to the girls all the time, and she knows which books are their favorites and which ones they get bored with. She reads stories to them with enthusiasm and accents and voice inflections, and those two babies sit stock still and become completely enthralled. Even when they're fussy, they will calm down almost immediately when she gets out one of their beloved books and begins to read.

My daughter-in-law not only reads multiple times daily to the babies, she also sings to them all the time. And again, they're extremely lucky--because she sings like an angel, or, as I like to tell her, a Disney princess. She has the most beautiful, clear, sweet voice. My son croons for his baby girls, too, right along with her--and hearing my boy sing soft bedtime songs to his wee daughters is indeed music to my ears; but--how do I put this gently?--let's just say that his talented duet partner elevates his performances a great deal!

As my time here in AL with my oldest son, his wife, and the twins draws to a close (I head back home--where I haven't been since the 7th--on Saturday), I intend to sit in on as many storytimes as I can...and even read a few books to the babies myself, while I still have the chance!