Armed with this advice from child developmental gurus, I have begun to read to Gwendolyn in the evenings, to get her to sleep. Just about the time Sara and I want to retire, after Gwendolyn's last feeding, she gets fussy and wakeful. So I take her from Sara, swaddle her tight, wrap her in a blanket, lay her gently in my lap, and tap my foot to get the rocking chair going in its slow creaking rhythm. And I read to her.
Dr. Seuss, you wonder? Perhaps a little Winnie the Pooh? Not for my daughter. My little queen gets nothing but the best--nothing but Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain.
Oh, yes. That's right. Nothing like a little 12th-century history to put a young lady to sleep. And her father gets to read something that's been on his reading list for several years. It's a win-win situation.
Furthermore, Gwendolyn gets some subliminal education on her name. Here's an excerpt from the History, regarding Gwendolen, daughter of Corineus, wife of Locrinus:
"Some time later, when Corineus was at long last dead, Locrinus deserted Gwendolen and took Estrildis as his Queen. Gwendolen was most indignant at this. She went off to Cornwall and there she assembled all the young men of that region and began to harass Locrinus with border forays. At last, when both sides had gathered an army together, they joined battle near the River Stour. There Locrinus was struck by an arrow and so departed from the joys of this life. With Locrinus out of the way, Gwendolen took over the government of the kingdom, behaving in the same extravagant fashion as her father had done." (ii.5; Lewis Thorpe, trans.)
That's right. I hope my Gwendolyn will be strong enough not to take any crap from a guy, either.
I'm not sure how much of that she's picking up right now, though. After all, about five minutes into Geoffrey, she looks like this:
Geoffrey died about the year 1155. I don't think he'll mind that his prose puts my daughter to sleep.
~ emrys
2 comments:
How beautiful your love and care for your dearest daughter be, Emrys! Thanh
I love it! You crack me up, Emrys. Your choice of reading should definitely put your precious little person to sleep. She's beautiful, and I know she's going to treasure the fact that her daddy loves her enough to read to her.
There might come a time, tho, when she'll enjoy Dr. Seuss a bit more than this particular selection of yours.
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