I'm Glad You Can Read, But...

One of the most exciting things about being a parent is watching your child learn. Elijah LOVES to learn...and it's amazing what a tremendous reader he has become over the past few months. He reads EVERYTHING...cereal boxes; the credits on a movie; billboards; etc. You write it - he'll read it.

And while it's great that he can read...it's not ALWAYS a good thing. For instance...

Elijah and I took a trip to the mall in Sherman to do a little Christmas shopping and visit with Santa. The mall in Sherman has a Dillard's...which just happens to have a jukebox blaring various songs by a wide variety of artists. It's a new-fangled jukebox - instead of records, it has CD's...with the CD covers displaying the artist, title of the CD, and list of songs available.

On this particular day, and Aerosmith tune was playing ("Toys In The Attic"...which, by the way, R.E.M. does a GREAT cover of). The catalog of CD's was opened to Aerosmith...and right above the Aerosmith CD was AC/DC's "Back In Black." I'm a HUGE AC/DC fan, and I commented to Elijah, as we walked by, "Oh man, that's one of the greatest CD's of all time."

Big mistake!

Elijah is thus moved by The Spirit to do a U-turn and run to the jukebox to learn more about AC/DC by reading this CD. Although Elijah is a fantastic reader, he has yet to learn the art of reading SILENTLY. In fact, with the volume of the music at a fairly high level, Elijah is not content to read in a normal tone. No - he feels compelled to read at a level that everyone within 50 feet can hear him.

And what does he read first? Do he go to Track 1? No...which is sort of a good thing, since the first song is called "Hell's Bells." Instead, he goes to Track 5, and reads the title of that song EXTREMELY loud...

"LET....ME....PUT....MY....LOVE....INTO....YOU"

Instantly every eye within earshot turns to Elijah...a couple with horrified expressions. Others begin to snicker. I...being the juvenile that I am...begin to giggle as well. Elijah looks at me with a quizzical expression.

"Daddy, what's so funny," he asked?

"Nothing," I replied, trying to muffle my laughter.

"Well, what does that mean - Let Me Put My Love Into You?" More laughter comes from the growing crowd...now anxiously awaiting an embarrassed father's response.

"Let Me Put My Love Into You," Elijah asks again? "Daddy, I don't get it - why is that so funny."

Daddy is now walking away at a rapid pace, hoping no one will notice his reddened face OR the child running behind him asking the meaning of this new reading phenomenon introduced by AC/DC.