Post Office Lines and Reading Aloud

Raven, mom, and I went to the post office today to mail our Christmas presents. It was (as expected) a very long line. The woman in line behind us had three children, ranging from an infant still in its carrier to probably three and five, respectively. As happens with such young yet active boys and long waits, they got restless. Raven and I had gone to stand by the wall with most of the packages while mom stayed in line. The plan was that Raven and I would bring up the packages when mom got to the front of the line so that we and our packages were less in the way for other customers.

Well, mom noticed that the boys were beginning to act up and called me over to entertain them. I tried striking up a conversation, and that worked perfectly fine with the older boy, but the younger of the two was a bit shy. I don't know what made me think of it, but I remembered that I had a copy of The Hobbit in my bag, so the two boys and I went to a carpeted corner of the post office and sat down. I read aloud to them, and quite surprising to me, both boys stayed right near me and were well behaved while I read to them. They did get distracted (or so I thought at the time) but I was surprised when I had stopped reading because the boys were looking at cards and commenting on them, but when I stopped they both turned back around and asked me to keep reading them the story. They hadn't been distracted at all in fact, they just needed something physical to do while they were listening. I got them things to draw on and with to keep them in one place, and that settled their need for something physical to do quite nicely. The younger boy, who had been so shy when we were standing up talking, became open and friendly when I started reading aloud. I actually spent a good portion of the time reading with him in my lap off and on as he rolled and played about. We read through Bilbo meeting Gandalf before the boys' mom made it through the line and it was time for them to go.

It was a small thing, a passing interaction and I doubt either boy would recognize me if he were to see me tomorrow, but it was a wonderful moment for me. With all the electronic gadgets and gizmos that are out there for young kids these days, and the TV and internet saturation, as an English major I have found myself lamenting the loss of simply reading aloud to children. There was some idea in me that just reading to kids, without any bells and whistles to keep their attention, was not something they would want anymore. These two boys, complete strangers in a post office line, proved me wrong. They enjoyed being read to, and were listening and paying attention to the story. And they were interacting with me, watching my expressions and engaging with me as a storyteller.

The boys didn't know it, and their mom thought I was the one helping her out this morning, but today two little boys gave me a wonderful Christmas gift.