Saturday’s weather looked rather bleak. So, faced with the terror of two active kiddos stuck inside a small apartment all long day, Ryan and I packed the girls up and headed out to the library. There in the small section of English children’s books I found a copy of Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
All sorts of memories flooded back. Laura getting her first doll, making candy in the snow, making maple syrup, churning butter, making straw hats.
We all cuddled up as Ryan read aloud and Ella LOVED it. We read 100 pages the first day and she was still asking for more. Now, she isn’t Ella anymore; she is Laura. Livi is baby Carrie. I’m Ma. Ryan is Pa. Maple syrup and honey are suddenly VERY exciting. Her imagination is pretty amazing.
I realized as we read how much this simple story colored my own childhood. The love of the wild places, the joy in working together in the kitchen and garden, and the cozy safeness of family are all things our family growing up shared with the Ingalls family. As we explore the outdoors together or I include Ella in the daily chores and welcome her into the kitchen with me or Ryan plays Bear and dances with the girls, I’m happy to know that we can continue that special way of being as a family.
Ps. When asked about the book Ella said, “It’s about Laura and Mary. They pretend Pa is a wild Dog. Roaaaar.” Proceeds to bite me.
Love that you guys are reading this book! I tried to convince my students this year that it was the best book! They unfortunately thought diary of a wimpy kid was more worth their time... lame... anyways missing you guys like crazy. Had a dream last night that I saw Ella and Livi , it was really sad waking up and realizing it wasn't true :(
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