Black and white and read all over

When I had children I lost the ability to:
Listen to music
Read in the car
Watch televised sport of any kind
Hold things in my teeth
Touch cotton wool
Make a soufflé
Stay in bed in the morning
Perform an emergency stop without flinging my left arm out to stop my passenger hurtling through the windscreen
Cook the right amount of pasta or potatoes - always much much too much
Not point out poo on the pavement
Read fiction
Read a book.

The last one bothers me most. I used to read a lot. I read A Lot to the children and loved it. Loved rediscovering all the books from my childhood, like The Faraway Tree, Meg and Mog, Topsy and Tim, The Tiger Who Came to Tea and the Large Family. And finding new family classics like Winnie the Witch, Melrose and Croc and You Choose. Sal's favourite ever book was a lift-the-flap book about different types of packed lunches. It was called School Dinners and was all 'What's Alice got in her lunchbox today?' We must have read it a billion times, at least. I used to read it with my eyes closed. Tom liked Two-can Toucan and a book about penguins called 'I like it when'. He can still recite it to me, word for word. I've kept every children's book I've ever bought or been handed down. I love them.They're staying.

So, after all those years of reading to the children, I still can't find the stamina or concentration to read a whole book of my own. Annoying. I've probably only read about ten books in the last ten years, but I'm ever hopeful. This is the latest book added to the wobbling book mountain by my bed; 'Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight' by Alexandra Fuller. I like it. I'm on page 37. Go me.

No other news. Just Monday.