Books

Books are such a hard thing in our house now.  The boys love them.  But sometimes too much.  They fight over them and tear them to shreds.  We have had to put away Brown Bear, Brown Bear, God Made You Nose to Toes, and The Very Busy Spider, to name a few.  They scream and shriek and cry and yell and tear and fight when we get them down.  And all of those are in 2 or more pieces now.  
Another difficult thing is the actual reading of a book to them.  L will typically sit on a lap and listen.  In fact, he will physically grab my hand, open it up, and put the book in it.  C and N love to flip to the pages they like, even if this involves taking the book out of a hand (mine, Nate's, or a brothers).  And sometimes I just want to read the book, or one of the other brothers wants to hear the book, but there is one or more hands grabbing and turning pages. 

And then the physical logistics of getting 3 kids in a lap.  I typically have to read on the floor with my legs out straight...sitting on a couch and trying to snuggle is a joke.  Sometimes they face me and I have 2 on one leg and one on the other, or 1 on each leg and one in between my legs, and I hold the book right in front of my body and have to read upside down.  Add Z into this mix, jumping on a leg also.  Sometimes I can get an arm around 2 kids (one on each leg) and they face away from me and I can read the book to them like a normal person (again, add Z laying on my back looking over my shoulder, the third kid on the other side or trying to shove a different book in my hands).  Here is a picture of Nate's attempt. 

The whole time, though, they are fighting over what book to read, where they are sitting, and who is messing with them.  And forget me taking one kid for some one-on-one time while Nate takes the others.  If I am reading to one, he wants to join the other two.  Or if another hears the book I'm reading, he will wiggle away from Nate to come hear the "better" book. 

Nate has managed to sit with all of them and read (they love Hop on Pop with him!). 

They also have only a few favorite books, and they have been read over and over and over and over and over.  Most of them are animal books.  We try to read new books to them, but they just tear them out of our hands and/or just climb off of my lap to go get a different on. 

I am sad to say that it is really just a frustrating experience.  We kind of dread the book reading time.  I wish we didn't and I know (HOPE) it will get better, because I love to read to Z, and had the same hopes for the little boys.  We know that we are spoiled by Z...he has always had an amazing focus and attention span.  They love books already, so that at least is good.  And they are happy reading on their own, as well.  We are hoping it is just their age and that they will get there.