Hidden Treasure
I had always assumed that a downside to being a family with just boys was that our read-alouds would by necessity be decidedly masculine. I would be doomed to Captains Courageous, Treasure Island, and Old Yeller, with not even an Anne of Green Gables or Little Women to soften the blow. I was bemoaning to my niece (and possibly to Jen too) the fact that we would probably never get to read the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder because those stories are too "girly", but Marisa set me straight.
"But if you think about it, most of it is really about Pa!" she said. "How he cleans his guns, sets his traps, tells stories, and plays his fiddle. They're not that girly, really. Noah would probably eat it up!"
And she's right. We're two-thirds of the way through Little House in the Big Woods, and Noah loves it! He listens raptly to all the descriptions of making maple sugar and smoking the meat, and the stories of being out in the bear-infested woods without a gun. I'm so glad we didn't skip over this series. I personally have enjoyed hearing about how Ma got her work done (one major chore for every day and rested on Sunday) and how the girls were overjoyed with just mittens and a candy stick for Christmas (they felt happy and blessed!), and how they were satisfied playing with the simplest and fewest of toys (a corncob "doll" and a pig bladder for a ball. Yes, really.). It makes me realize that my kids don't need more toys; they need instead to be taught thankfulness for what they already have. Life lessons from a book I almost skipped! Imagine that. :)
"But if you think about it, most of it is really about Pa!" she said. "How he cleans his guns, sets his traps, tells stories, and plays his fiddle. They're not that girly, really. Noah would probably eat it up!"
And she's right. We're two-thirds of the way through Little House in the Big Woods, and Noah loves it! He listens raptly to all the descriptions of making maple sugar and smoking the meat, and the stories of being out in the bear-infested woods without a gun. I'm so glad we didn't skip over this series. I personally have enjoyed hearing about how Ma got her work done (one major chore for every day and rested on Sunday) and how the girls were overjoyed with just mittens and a candy stick for Christmas (they felt happy and blessed!), and how they were satisfied playing with the simplest and fewest of toys (a corncob "doll" and a pig bladder for a ball. Yes, really.). It makes me realize that my kids don't need more toys; they need instead to be taught thankfulness for what they already have. Life lessons from a book I almost skipped! Imagine that. :)
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