Harry Potter: Nerd Alert

I decided that my almost 5-year-old son was ready for the magic of Harry Potter. He'd seen parts of the movie before and has asked for it for Christmas. Being a book NERD, I told him we needed to start with the books.

I don't care what you do when you're on your own, but while you're in MY house, you will always start with the BOOKS.

New rule.

It's been a looong time since I've read the first book. So I just sort of assumed he'd be ready. I mean, I knew it might be a little over his head, but doable. Right?

Not so much. I mean, there's just a lot of background, you know? Talking about Mr. Dursley's job at the drill company. How he and his wife loathe "weirdos." Just fluff that's not usually in age-appropriate books for him.

Whenever I read books to him, I have him lie down and close his eyes so he can imagine it. I do this for three reasons -- I want him to use his mind to see what I'm reading, to make sure he really focuses AND to make sure he relaxes and hopefully drifts easily to dreamland.

The first chapter is 17 pages, y'all. At page 10 he started to really droop. Page 11, I suspected and page 12 confirmed that he had fallen fast asleep, tucked in with thoughts of a tabby cat and old Professor Dumbledore.

Here's where the nerd alert comes in -- I started to cry while reading the book. I know, I know.

But I was really invested in those books! And starting over, reading about the day James and Lily died and Harry became an orphan -- and reading about all these people who have no idea what's coming next.

And, yes, I realize it's a book. Fake.

But still.

Apparently there's still a part of me that's sad Dumbledore died. Because when he showed up, bah. It was over for me.

My kiddo might be a little young right now. We might have to put it back on the shelf. But I hope when he's ready, that it impacts him as much as it did (does) me. Good books move you when you're reading them.

Great books move you when you think about them, even 10+ years later.