Proud to be a Book-Buying Family

                                                                      one of Ryan's bookcases

   I’m lucky.  I can take my son to Target and he doesn’t ask to look in the toy department.  He walks right by it as we head to another section of the store.  We’ve been to Legoland once and Disneyland once.  And at each amusement park, we were probably one of the only families that didn’t head to any of the gift shops.  Ryan walked right by them, and we were fine with that.  

   One of his favorite things to shop for is books.  And me, being a former teacher, has  a hard time saying no.  On our last trip to our local Barnes and Noble, Ryan selected four books for us to read in one of our favorite quiet corners.  And then he asked me to buy all four books.  I took out the calculator and we figured out those books would cost $51.  So we compromised.  We bought 2 books there, and came home to comparison shop on Amazon.  But instead of buying those other 2 books, Ryan found 4 additional books he wanted.  (In all fairness, I found  a book too).  We ordered our 5 books for $48.  

   And I’m really okay with spending money on books.  We’ve been reading to Ryan since I first learned I was pregnant.  I’m a big believer in surrounding children with books, and I can proudly say that I am raising a boy who loves to read! 

   Now that Ryan is seven, he can help weed through his current book shelves to determine if there are any books he no longer wants and/or has outgrown.  The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation.  Ryan continues to love to read.  And when he finds books he no longer wants, we donate them.  I like knowing that we’re helping put books in other children’s hands.

   By the way, we’ve been making all our hand-me-down donations to an organization called “Baby to Baby.”  Here’s the link:  http://baby2baby.org/donate

Check them out next time you have a clean-up session at home.  (They accept items for children up at age 12).