Nevermore

Michael is really growing up on me. I never liked it much, losing my sweet baby, but yesterday we shared some moments that you don't typically have with younger kids. He came home from school, all excited about science class. They had talked about optical illusions and he wanted to see more. So after his homework was finished, he dug out the laptop and Googled away, looking for more eyeball teasing websites. Bill and I both love optical illusions and one of our favorite artists is MC Escher. I scooched Bug aside and and pulled up a bunch of Escher images-the stairs, the drawing hands, the lizards, and more. Michael was fascinated. Pretty cool stuff. He's been drawing more lately, a budding little artist like his mom, and who knows--maybe he'll find some inspiration in Escher's work.

Then the other day, I saw a link on Facebook from Goodreads, I think it was, asking what scary books you read for Halloween. I've pretty much given up the horror genre. Those images get in my head and I can't get them out. I walk around all scared and paranoid, locking every window and door because someone out there is planning to kill me...Every noise makes me jump. So not the remedy for a good night's sleep. Michael, on the other hand, loves some horrible, creepy stories. His favorite books for the past couple of years have been the Goosebumps series and I bought him a copy of Frankenstein a few weeks ago. If scary is what it takes to get him to read, then scary he shall have.

But something kicked up Edgar Allen Poe in the back of my mind and I thought maybe he'd like The Raven or The Tell-Tale Heart. Luckily, a dear friend had given me a copy of Poe's complete unabridged works several years back, so I took it down off the bookshelf and thumbed through it--this is a pretty hefty book! I found both stories, along with several more that'll be great to read leading up to Halloween. Last night at bedtime, we snuggled up and I read him The Raven. He loved it! I loved it--both the poem and the sharing. A favorite artist and a classic author in the same day--two things that showed me he's growing up and not such a little boy anymore. But, it felt really good to connect like that. Can't wait to read some more tonight...