In a Book

It has been quite some time since I’ve perused the books at the Winnipeg public library. The past few months any books I’ve read from the library were requested online.  What that means is all I have to do is step into the library wander the kids section for a few minutes while my youngest picks out a few books and check out. 

I’ve also been reading less than usual I think in part because I haven’t been perusing the shelves and finding new authors and new books to read.  So while I love the convenience of a simple pick up and drop off I’m missing out on something more.

There are of course a few other reasons I’ve been reading less, primarily a lack of time but also because I am still in the process of reading the Harry Potter series to both girls.  While I read at a rather quick pace alone reading aloud takes much more time. 

When we first became interested in this series I read all 7 books in a two week period.  Aloud I’ve been reading a chapter every day I’m able to and it’s been about 9 months now.  We are now only half way through book 6.

Hrmm got a little off track there….where was I ..…ahh the library and lack of time spent. 

I realized how much I enjoy wandering the shelves this past weekend as the millennium library opened a new park area and we as a family decided to go take a look.  It was a gorgeous weekend with a short respite from the cool fall days we’ve been having and it was quite nice to walk through.  

After checking out the new park area we spent a fairly good chunk of time wandering the library itself and as I walked down aisles a book jacket catching my eye here and there.  I began to realize that I rather missed the time lovingly spent picking books.

I love everything about the library, the smell of books the general air of calm and quiet. It seems to me that libraries represent the very best of humankind.  They represent our quest for knowledge, our love of imagination and even a bit of magic.  

Libraries have held a special place in my heart since I first began reading and I think I’d forgotten a bit of that.  They are a place in which I feel a sense of peaceful solitude and a reverence in the world at large, you can after all you can go anywhere in a book.   

Power Of Words

This past weekend while on my second or third stop to pick up a missed item from the store I witnessed a truly disheartening scene. While I was picking up a carton of eggs a little boy of no more than 5 was told by his father to grab a carton for him.

Being a 5 year old boy he fumbled and dropped the carton, his father’s reaction was absolutely shocking and vile.  He began to tell this young boy that he was an idiot and worthless and that he would never do anything right. I was shocked by the hatred and anger in this man’s voice so startled in fact that although I would have liked to have said something I physically couldn’t speak.

This in and of itself is a terrible thing to hear a parent tell their child but it was the look on this little boys face that crushed me as his father continued to berate him.  He’d heard these words before, he didn’t cry, he didn’t offer a single complaint just stood there and accepted what he seemed to believe was his due. My heart broke for this poor boy and it’s been in my mind ever since.

Even more than saying something to this father I wish I could have taken that little boy and told him that he is a wonderful and unique person just as special as anyone else in this world.  I wanted to take that deadened look in his eyes and replace it with the happiness that all children deserve.  

I wanted to shake this father and make him see what he is doing to his son.  Children will believe what you say to them whether or not it is said out of anger or not.  As a parent you have the power to shape how your child feels about themselves right from day one.  How you react to accidents and in moments of stress will not affect just that moment but the rest of your child’s life.

I realize chances are had I said something he would have looked at me as the offending party and still not recognized what he was doing to his child.  Often we can’t see what we are doing wrong and we don’t recognize the power of our words and our actions.  I can only hope he realizes the power he holds to make his sons life better or worse before it’s too late.  

For me what I will try to take from this is a reminder to be kind to my children.  To love them no matter what they do and to always remember the power my words hold over them.