Secret Reader for Ava's Class

Today was one of those amazing days in the life of a father. I got to be the secret reader for Ava's kindergarten class!

It's funny how nervous I was to read to a bunch of kindergarten students! I mean, I'm no stranger to presentations. But a long table of "suits" has nothing on 25 kindergarteners! These kids will call your bluff in a heart beat!

Ava sat on my lap in one of the rocking chairs. Terp and Emme sat beside us. Terp held the book while I read. (We practiced book orientation and flipping technique beforehand.) Luckily we were able to break the ice quickly and get the kids smiling and laughing. Once that happened I just had a blast. It's great to hear what the kids have to say, how they interject, what they think.

Ava helped me out. And Emme helped out in her own way... which is to say that she made noise, moved the book all over the place and generally caused mayhem! At one point I was peering over Ava's head, reading a crooked book out of one eye, fending off Emme complaints and trying to interact with the students! Too fun.

I got to experience losing control of the group a couple times! Wow... when they go, they go. Laughing, giggling and yelling... all of a sudden! No warning. Impossible to predict what would trigger them. Just... boom! Luckily a quick shhhh-ing got them under control. And, of course, intervention by Mrs. Fogel... she's in charge! I am not :) It really is amazing to see an expert like Mrs. Fogel work with her kiddos.

More than anything I was just proud to be part of Ava's life. It was a magical moment when she entered the library and jumped onto my lap. She's been talking about this reading session for weeks. I didn't want to let her down and the big hug and smile after the session told me that I did well!

Thanks to Mrs. Fogel and Mrs. Quintero for having us in to read! We had a blast!