Sandra turns 18 soon and was finding it hard to work up a sense of anticipatory happiness about the event.
We’ve been having a bit of a nostalgic winter, with lots of “remember when’s” and “oh, there was that time…” Sandra realized that if anything really defined her childhood in terms of fictional landscapes it was Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
Neither of my children has read Harry Potter, though. Thanks to the years of needing vision therapy, that was a series that they experienced as I read aloud. Sandra decided that this ought to be remedied and set about finding a set with artwork she wanted on her bookshelf. Because the family set was the family set, not the Sandra set.
And she talked Matthias into following her down the path. And they discovered that the North American sets are rather meh. And they ordered from England. And the sets arrived.
Now they have to wait for her birthday to start reading. Happy anticipatory feelings have been achieved!
Handmade Homeschool 
Love everything about that! I’m giving my kids books for Valentine’s Day!
Love this! My boys who are 18 and 20 also listened to all the stories read aloud by their dad and the younger two are having the same priviledge — one new book read aloud each year (they are too scary to hear all at once we feel and so far they are sort of ok with this — at 8 and 10 they want to know what is next but my 10 year old has lots of very vivid dreams…. We too have a few from England rather from US.
I can’t believe she’ll be 18 soon. I’m not sure how long I’ve been following your blog–at least 8 years, but I believe longer than that. My oldest will be 13 on the 24th, and I feel like that is bittersweet. I don’t want to think about 18 yet.
I love this post! I remember all the struggles you had trying to find out why the kids had trouble reading & I am so happy that they have come this far. I hope they enjoy the books–rereading them on their own will be a new magical journey. I also agree about how important it is to buy covers you like. As Writing Kairos has said–it’s hard to believe Sandra is 18–I’ve been reading also for what seems like forever. It has been fun watching her grow into such a capable adult.