James and the Giant Peach

Tonight I read Chapter 14 of James and the Giant Peach to David and Jaclyn. The reading of this book started with Jaclyn a couple of months back - it was our thing. We would read a chapter every so often - whenever the mood struck us during bedtime. So tonight for some reason, David was interested as well. Jaclyn sat in a tiny chair next to me. David stood behind me on a toy chest with his arms wrapped around my neck. We had a blast.

I read the chapter and we stopped at this line "We are about to roll away inside this great big beautiful peach to a land of...of...of...to a land of - "..."Never you mind" said the Ladybug.

We stopped because David was cackling. It was hysterical - he wanted me to repeat this line again and again - laughing at the phrase - "Never you mind". In thinking about it - that line does make me chuckle. At one point all three of us were laughing hysterically.

It is moments like this that I treasure. It is an inner joy, only other fathers know about spending time with their children. But this was a life moment - James and the Giant Peach was a favorite book of mine when I was a kid. So in a sense, I am passing something along to my children. And I wonder - what will tomorrow bring?