The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Years ago, when Madison was a newborn, I received a card in the mail offering a membership in a Dr. Seuss book club. This was long before the days of internet shopping and Amazon of course. I was excited to join and looked forward every few months to receiving a brand new Dr. Seuss book in the mail. I could not wait to begin reading to my baby, and I remember sitting on the couch with a then two month old baby reading Hop on Pop and Go, Dog, Go!


Madison grew to LOVE those books, which I carefully stored first in a basket and then on a shelf. We read them over and over and over. Her favorite was Dr. Seuss's ABC. I swear I read that book over a thousand times. As Madison outgrew those special books, Peyton and Rhett came along and we enjoyed them all over again. I remember being excited each and every time we read them. Except for Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Not a fan.


Gradually my three littles grew, and those precious books took their spot on our children's bookshelf. And there they sat. And sat. And sat. Years went by before we were blessed with our sweet little Flynn, who is having a totally different childhood than my first three. She was born after the advent of the internet and ABC Mouse and iPad games. We still read books, of course. But books are now readily available through Amazon, and we are enjoying new favorites like her never ending collection of Llama Llama books. Last week, however, she discovered a new collection of books on the shelf. And she has carried them around for days. She asks to read them over and over and over. And my heart is happy to do so! Each time I read one, I am transported back in time in my heart and mind. I am reading the exact same words and sharing the exact same pictures to my littlest that I did all those years ago to my older three. I am watching her enjoy and savor every page just as they did when we snuggled together on a different couch in a different house.
 

Years have passed. Children have grown. Things have changed. Or have they? I still love to read those precious books, and my children still love to listen. I know someday I will put them back on the shelf  for good as my baby outgrows them. But I also know that one day, hopefully, I will pull them off again and snuggle on my couch with a new generation of babies...my grandchildren. And I will open a book and begin again.