Living overseas means waiting on mail. Living with an APO means it isn't as bad, you may think. You would be wrong. Sometimes things come quickly and other times they take forever. Other times they do not come at all. Planning on mail is simply impossible. As an adult, I can understand and accept that fact. My children, however, do not. Especially when the younger sister's Christmas present from Grandpa arrives in time for Christmas and the older sister's present doesn't arrive at all. Sophia is old enough now to understand that Grandpa bought them both at the same time and hoped they would arrive at the same time, but jealousy still rules her world. Luckily, Grandpa was able to cancel the first (two!) orders and try for a third time with a UK company that shipped it to us in a few days. After I pointed out to Sophia that it is the thought that counts and technically her Christmas would last longer than her sister's, she was less jealous.
Once she received and opened her present, she was delighted. And now, she is obsessed. With what? Harry Potter. I decided that she should only read the first five books and save the last two for another year (or so). Then I realized she was reading them too fast so I had her write a book report for the third book before she could continue. She wrote it and then finished the first five and then read them again. Then she read them again but in a random order. Then she read them again but skipping through some parts while savoring others. She still goes through stacks of library books and a chapter book a day from school and all the other books on her shelf, but she goes back to Harry Potter daily.
And randomly, she will ask, "Mom, what is the defense against the dark arts teacher in the last two books? Can you just tell me that?" or "Wouldn't it be cool if I could sleep at school and eat in the Great Hall?" She will stop reading and run to read me a line that she found funny, or interesting, or is an example of foreshadowing (she doesn't know the word, but she definitely knows the concept!). Here are the photos from when she first received the books, after
impatiently waiting since Christmas. Her Grandpa pointed out that Tessa's expressions lose interest in the present as she realizes it is a bunch of books without pictures. It is a humorous progression as Sophia gets happier and happier and Tessa gets less and less enthused, so I included all the photos.
