Kids are Funny.

My kids are SOOOO predictable. They announced (for the first time this summer, so I guess that's an accomplishment) that they were "bored" last Thursday, so, we went to Barnes & Noble on Friday afternoon. Usually they're pretty pricey but I had a big giftcard to spend and frankly, I don't have time to read much. So, I told them they could spend $20 each, on books they would READ. Not any other type of books.

Thing Three found a couple of books right away, and I immediately had him put them back, because they were Pokemon Card Encyclopedias. He had to get books he would READ. As in, CHAPTER books. Thing Two, my ten-year old son, couldn't find ANYTHING. He likes to read, but he's more into video games. And of course he was looking for a video-game themed book.

Um, NO.

Thing One, who is eleven, was the worst. She's begged and begged to read the TWILIGHT series, and I've let her read the first TWO books only, and she hung around the Twilight series table, making doe eyes at me and I kept shaking my head. NOT. HAPPENING. Not until she's older. Sorry.

Anyway, I took Thing Four with me in the stroller and we went on our merry way, abandoning the kids to the kids section. I tried to find a certain research book, but they only had it online. (Darn it!) So, I browsed the new fiction shelves, and didn't find anything that jumped out at me. Twenty minutes had passed, so I went back, and my kids were STILL moping around, empty-handed!

I figured it was the whole "too many choices" dilemma. So, I took my daughter over to the teen section, and picked out books 1 and 2 of Ally Carter's Gallagher girl's series. She rolled her eyes even though I promised she'd love them and I told her to trust me. Of course she pouted over it but I held firm. Then, for the boys, I picked out books 1-4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Let me tell you, I almost had an all-out mutiny over those choices. I told them to "not judge books by their covers" (which frankly, were pretty cool looking!) and we went downstairs and bought the books.

They pouted most of the way home, and I told them they were a bunch of ninnies. AND I informed Thing Two that he had to read "The Lightning Thief" (book one of the Percy Jackson series) before he could play even one more video game. NO Wii, no Gamecube, DS, NES, Atari, NADA, NOTHING.

Serious almost-mutiny. What frustrated me, is I KNOW my kids! They get lost in stories, just like I did! They've all read the Harry Potter series, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder series (well, my daughter has) and they LOVE to read!

I set the books down and threw up my hands and went downstairs to the office. Checked email. Fumed a bit. Came back upstairs, and the sight that met my eyes made me laugh! Thing One and Thing Two were sitting quietly in the living room, devouring the books with greedy eyes. Thing One was already on chapter Six of "I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You" and Thing Two hardly looked up from his book when I tried to gloat.

Yeah, score one for Mom!

Of course when Thing Two finally put down The Lightning Thief I started scanning it and couldn't put it down. Rick Riordan is AWESOME! Why can't I write like that? *sigh*

Score: Summer Boredom: 0 Mom: 1

Hooray!