One of My Favorite Things

One of my very favorite parts of being a mom is watching my kids learn to read. There is something magical about hearing "cccc-aaaa-ttt, CAT!" and it makes me swoon just a bit. I love watching the world open up as they begin to see words around them and discover the joy of reading.

This summer the Caboose has entered that world. And we owe it all to these little jars of pennies.


When I was a little girl, my parents paid me a penny a page to read. I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table, reading Hop on Pop and deliberately dropping a shiny penny into a custard dish page after page. While we didn't adopt that strategy with the first two, this summer we started paying the Caboose one cent for every page he read. He has been so motivated to read and earn some cash that over the summer he would pour over simple beginner books for hours on end with those little jars of pennies tucked in next to him. We have gradually introduced more complex books and it has been amazing to see him growing as a reader!

I LOVE reading, and seeing that love blossom in my kids is absolutely a highlight of being a mom. Love it!