Story time!

My kids LOVE books. At least twice a day, one (or both) of the boys will request that I read them a story, and Zoe always wants to climb into my lap and listen. I'm happy that they have an early appreciation for reading, because I think it's super important. However, at our house, story time does tend to get a little frustrating for the adult. Allow me to explain.

Today we'll be reading one of the many Disney books we have: The Prince and the Pauper. Quick lesson: The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by Mark Twain. It was first published in the United States in 1882, and it was Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. There. The English teacher within me is satisfied. :)

I'm sure I'll be sued for copyright infringement or something, but I suppose I'll deal with that  later. Do they have story time in prison?

Since there are several people involved, I will be using a different color to represent each person's voice in the dialog to follow. Nathan will be black, Ethan will be blue, Nicholas will be red, and Zoe will be pink. The actual story will be italicized. Keep in mind that this is not verbatim, but is fairly accurate to what I usually hear. All good? Okay, then...story time at our house...

For many years England had a wise and good King. The people were...
Where's Mickey?
We haven't gotten to the part with Mickey yet.

I see Goofy!

Yep, there's Goofy.
The people were happy under his rule. But by and by, the good King fell ill. Soon the greedy...
Dada! Dada! 
...captain of the guard, Captain Pete, saw...
Nicky, don't turn the page. I'm not done reading that part yet. Fine, turn the page.

Where's Captain Pete?

I saw him! Turn the page back! There he is!

There's Pete!!
There he is. Be careful! You're going to rip it!
Without firewood to heat their simple homes and enough food to...
There's Mickey!! I see him now!!
Yep, he's right there.
...enough food to eat, people suffered terribly...
Juice?! Juice! Juice! Waaaaaaah!!
...throughout the land.

Why does that man have a bag?
Where's a bag?

I don't know. Why don't we keep reading the story and find out?

Well, what's in that bag?

I don't know, buddy. Let's keep reading.

Mickey has sticks!

It seemed that no one could save the kingdom from the thieving Captain Pete...

I need a drink. I'm thirsty.

Okay, go get a drink.

...until one day...

I need a drink, too!

Okay, go get your juice.

Juice? Juice? Dada! Dada! Juice!!

Oh, good Lord...

Anyway, you get the idea. Total page count: four. At this point, I'm laughing hysterically because I know it's going to be at least thirty minutes before they actually make it through the story. Also, I know that once the story is over, Ethan will request that Daddy read it again. 

The best part is the stuff that you can't see. Nicholas can't sit still to save his life, so he's climbing all over, chewing on his hands and kicking Daddy in the leg. Zoe starts off in Daddy's lap, but then wants to get down somewhere around the third page. She will then stand next to the couch and try to tear the pages out of the book (or pester her brothers). Ethan is still for the most part, unless he needs a drink or a potty break.

It's a lot easier when they're tired. :)