Overheard

My kids surprise me. A fly on the wall would have heard this conversation last night:

Younger Daughter (12): Mom, I don’t think I can read Men of Iron. It’s sooooo boring!

Me: Really?? Aren’t you liking Ivanhoe? [Our current knights and castles read-aloud.]

YD: Yes!

Me: If you like Ivanhoe, trust me, you’ll like Men of Iron. And anyway, sometimes you have to push through. Do you think [Older Daughter] is enjoying reading The Inferno? Do you think she likes reading about a trip to hell?

Older Daughter (14): Yes!!

Me: Huh?

OD: I read eight cantos this morning when I was supposed to be doing math, and I only had to read two! It’s intriguing… I have to go back and reread it and make sure I’m really getting it all…

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So on the one hand, I have a daughter rejecting what I felt sure would be a winner, a home-run, a pure pleasure read. On the other, I have what I felt sure was going to be drudgery-requirement-push-back material — and it’s turning out to be an unexpected hit.

It’s an adventure, that’s for sure!