Goodnight Moon

I came to a conclusion this evening: if I were stranded on a deserted island with my kids, the book Goodnight Moon would definitely be in at least the top 5 items I would want with me. It is the PERFECT book. I think hospitals should send it home with new parents in those new baby bags they distribute, along with the diaper and formula samples. It is just that wonderful. We had the board book version for both Ava and Jocelyn, and we read it just about every night before bedtime. By the time Molly came around, there was literally no longer a spine to the book, and it was borderline unsanitary from all the mouths that had chewed on the pages. Just before Christmas I finally replaced our Goodnight Moon book. This time I bought the paperback version, which is not quite as Molly-friendly, but it has been wonderful to return to our nighttime reading routine. (We've read other books in the meantime, but it's just not the same.) We have only been doing this for a few weeks now, but now as soon as I sit in the rocking chair with Molly on my lap she starts to reach for the book. I pull it off of her dresser and open to the first page. I'm not sure I ever actually look at the words as I "read" it - I have had this book memorized since I was probably Ava's age. Molly puts her hand inside mine and sticks out her pointer finger - she is all ready for me to help her point to all the objects in Bunny's room as we say good-night to each one. She can be wired to the max, crawling and laughing like crazy, but as soon as we begin to read she relaxes and mellows to the quiet words of this magical story. It is such a wonderful 2 or 3 minutes at the end of our usually crazy days, and a time I am making sure to appreciate and savor.