So, after my most recent post, S has not played around with sacrificing his bedtime book, but tonight was J’s turn.  They were in the bathtub together, as usual, and had been in long enough, but J was unwilling to get out, despite the increasing chilliness of the water.  So, after a couple of tries to reason with him, I make my threat: “No book for you, if you don’t get out now” and his reply was “OK, no book.”

“Fine”, said I, and I turned my attention to S and his choice of book.

We just finished book two of the Harry Potter series, The Chamber of Secrets, which was satisfyingly exciting.  And, so, tonight, we began the third volume, “HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban”.  We were about 3/4 through the first chapter when…

J finally decided he was ready to get out of the tub.  I went to the bathroom, wrapped him in a towel, and dried him, coaxed him through brushing his teeth (a twice-daily torture for all of us these days), and then into his pajamas.  And, then, I returned to S to finish reading the chapter we were in the middle of.

J was furious.  

“I want this book!” he said, holding up one of his favorites – “I’m a Truck” – which he refers to as “Howwwwww-deee!!”, because it’s the first word in the book (logical, huh?).

I reminded him that he made the choice to stay in the bath and not have a book read to him.  His response:

“I don’t like you!” (actually, rendered as “I don’t wike you!”, which does routinely make us laugh, and not get too upset about the statement).

I remind him: “Remember, that’s not a nice thing to say, and it doesn’t change that you chose not to have a book tonight.”

J was not convinced.

So, I’m just hoping that carrying through on this punishment has the same effect it had on S a week ago – no more challenging the limits when it comes to the precious book-reading time at bedtime.

So glad that they both love books.