Commuter Mom: Monthly Outing

My father was an English teacher for 25 years. He raised us to be avid readers and to appreciate literature. I grew up reading whenever I could; the books varied — sometimes they were serious works, other times they were just fun, mindless “summer” reads.

My father started a tradition right around when I started middle school. He would take us to the bookstore the first Sunday of every month. We went other days for other reasons, but this was a special day. That day we got our monthly book allowance. With our allowance, my brother and I were allowed to buy any books we wanted (granted, that was when you could get books for less than $10). If we spent more, we had to use our regular allowance — if we spent less, Dad got to keep the change. We were allowed to get one cartoon book (my brother was partial to Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes), but the other books had to have more words than pictures. It was so exciting to get a new book that we picked out. It wasn’t something we had to read for school. It wasn’t chosen by Mom, Dad, or Aunt Sue. It was our choice…our adventure or story to get drawn into.

I don’t have many of my books from when I was little, but I do have Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, James and the Giant Peach, and The Lorax. Commuter Girl has a recent fascination with The Lorax, and it has been really fun to read my old faded copy with her. As soon as I think she’ll sit still long enough for a full chapter, we are definitely going to start Charlotte’s Web. And I can’t wait to begin the tradition of a monthly book allowance.