Reading...

I used to read 3-5 books at a time.  My mom instilled a love of reading in me from a young age.  She also was ahead of her time in not forcing my sister and me to read on our own too early.   While I'm sure if she had pushed, we could have been reading before kindergarten, she didn't and so our love for reading was able to grow.  My sister and I loved reading all the time, we would be known to take more books on vacation than we would clothes.

When I was in middle school and high school, I would read all the time.  I would come home from school and read biographies, history books and more.  I even didn't have a problem with "dryer" material.  Anything I received, magazines, etc., I would try to read start to finish.  Once I started a book, I would finish it, no  matter how bad it was.

Then college and vet school happened.  Being a varsity athlete and getting two degrees in my undergraduate days as well as a part-time job, I really didn't have extra time for reading for pleasure.  Being in veterinary school, all I ever did was read!  I read so much that I really kind of had to take a moratorium on reading (excluding Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and a couple spiritual books).  I really had NO desire to read.  I had to read continuing education journals (I still receive at least 4 a month) and other veterinary stuff.

Then we got pregnant with my son, and from about 4 months (the time he could start hearing us supposedly in the womb) and on, we've been reading to him at least once a day.  We read everything and we read some books upwards of 20 times a day.  It can get tiring, but it's wonderful to see how excited he gets with books.  He can last multi-hour car trips as long as he has his books.  We have even gotten him interested in books on tape.

My son is one of the reasons I've fallen in love with reading again.  I had to take a break for a little bit, but I'm back to reading two to three books at a time.  I don't have a ton of time to do it, but if my son is asleep in my arms sick or I'm waiting at a doctors appointment or even 5 minutes before bed, I try to get in a little time with a book.  I'm so happy I do.  It reinvigorates me and it has also helped me fall back in love with writing.

Books are wonderful and can open you to a whole new world, or with the case of non-fiction, transport you back in time and help you look at the world in a new way.  Thanks to my mom and my two year old, I'm falling in love with reading all over again.