Ode to Harry Potter

When Harry was a baby, I had a lot of down time. I was consistently nursing him from sun up to sun down. All this seemed a waste of time until I found out I could balance a book on my suckling babe and read the time away. So I read. I hate reading books in a series, but I found a series that I couldn't resist. I read Harry Potter.

The month Harry (my Harry) was born, JKR release Goblet of Fire. My childbirth instructor insisted that I read the books. I had no desire to read the latest fad in pre-teen age books. I was a librarian at one point in my career, and although I have always loved reading whatever I could get my hands on, I really didn't have a desire to start a series, and have deep discussions with my then 11 year old niece. She had hounded me to read them a couple of months back. I had even started the first book, and it was... Well.... It was boring. So my pride was at fault here.

I don't know what changed my mind, I assume it was the lack of anything else to read, but I picked up Sorcerers stone for the second time, and I didn't put it down until I was done. Forget what everyone says about devil worship, the reason they don't want you reading Harry Potter books is because they are so engrossing. The world is complete and intriguing. So I read them all, multiple times. It is not great writing, I assure you, but it is great imagination. And, it also always ends with a good message. It really is about love, good choices and taking responsibility. What can be evil about that? So when Chilly's birth coincided with the release of the 5th book, you can assume I was a little bit ...um, hooked. And by the time the last book was released last year, during our last week in Nauvoo, you can bet that Big D was at the nearest WalMart at 12:01, to get my copy. (I mean our copy, he is as nutty as me)

So, I'm excited about a series of books- what is wrong with that? Well, I have passed this on, not only to my respectable husband, but also on to my two boys. So when the movies come out, we are excited to see them, if only to share a bit of the magic with my sons, who aren't quite ready to read JKR.

I found out on Saturday, that the local supermarket was having a costume contest. A look-a-like Harry Potter contest. I figured if they saw the cutest boy in the world dressed up like Harry potter, we would probably win. So I convinced my 5 year old Multiple times. Finally the with the two year old sporting the glasses, robe and wand, we were off. We made it to the store and couldn't figure out where there was a contest at. A call to Big D who was on his way home, he changed routes and brought his HP tie that we gave him for Christmas. Well we found the contest, and after a single snapshot, we went home. We watched the movie we had conveniently purchased earlier that day, and all was well with the world. After snuggling in bed with my 2 year old Harry Potter, Big D came into the room and made an announcement. We won! We now have two copies of Goblet of Fire. If one is good, two is better.

What did my kids learn from this? Well, if you are going to be nutty about something, go all the way, you might just get free stuff.