{"id":8230,"date":"2018-06-03T18:20:18","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T18:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.potentialplusuk.org\/?p=8230"},"modified":"2018-06-03T18:20:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T18:20:18","slug":"the-hlp-diaries-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/index.php\/2018\/06\/03\/the-hlp-diaries-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The HLP Diaries …and then there’s the books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemused Parent:<\/em> Entry 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve decided to start this diary, so that in time I\u2019ll be able to look back and see just how crazy life was in this household. Many parents I know seem to have \u201cnormal\u201d lives, where they go to work, interact with the children until they go to bed at a sensible hour, watch TV and even have time for hobbies.<\/p>\n

That said, I love my nine-year old Ada and wouldn\u2019t swap her for anything, not even for a morning yoga or mindfulness session instead of each hurried start to the school day. She is a late riser because she can\u2019t bear to miss out on in-depth conversation at bedtime.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the books. All of us in this home love books but only the HLP child has perfected grabbing every free minute to read, no matter how urgent it is to exit the house. As soon as Ada wakes up, there\u2019s a book waiting to be coddled in the duvet. I\u2019ll say a cheery good morning in the hope of catching her attention\u2026 nope, her eyes remain engrossed in the book. But this morning was different. I walked in at 7.30am, she said \u201cHello,\u201d then: \u201cMum, don\u2019t you think the word \u2018anthropomorphic\u2019 is unfair? My [soft toy] friends do have feelings.\u201d Thank you, Lucy Hawking, for inspiring that nugget. Ten minutes later, all-purposeful Dad enters the room, demanding that his daughter gets up to be met with howls of protest. Who cares about the fact that parents must get to work and that there\u2019s a new late mark potentially awaiting Ada? She says: \u201cSchool is only starting with assembly and lots of sitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she really can\u2019t live without books in the morning, an unacknowledged compromise has been made between us. Eat her breakfast rather than staring intently at New Scientist, and Ada is allowed to read the First Aid manual (a quicker read thanks to the diagrams!) as she has her hair tied back. Dad is also HLP and goes along amiably with the breakfast compromise, although how on earth he can solve a complex mathematical challenge from one of his tomes on the table before 8.15am is beyond me. And if a book isn\u2019t available? Ada reads anything with writing on it, from cereals to leaflets.<\/p>\n

At Lights Out there\u2019s usually a wail if it\u2019s no books-time. So, if the bedtime routine is hastened, there\u2019s the luxury of those lovely stories! Or we\u2019ll read to her. Oddly, after a tiring day, reading out loud and knowing my daughter\u2019s contentment at storytime tends to make me feel happy; it\u2019s bonding time that no classtime reading session can ever offer her.<\/p>\n

Last night, when I asked Ada why books are so important, she just said: \u201cI need to read.\u201d Likewise, a friend\u2019s HLP son said: \u201cI like learning new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

I suspect books will be a lifetime habit, although they\u2019re unlikely to teach Ada about remembering to hand in homework or keeping track of her possessions. We all need practical skills and I\u2019ve met other HLP children who are aiming to improve their independence and organisation too. Yet when my usually benign mother-in-law once suggested that we put many of our books in storage, it felt like an affront even to me, the non-HLP parent. I know that Ada envies the elderly neighbour next door, who retreats daily to his gazebo to read newspapers or a book. He doesn\u2019t need people around him, he needs the written word. I wonder how many newspapers he\u2019s read in a lifetime?\u00a0 I\u2019ll ask Ada to do the Maths before she picks up George and the Ship of Time…<\/p>\n

\n

The HLP Diaries are fictional tales of parenting children with high learning potential.\u00a0 If you are a Potential Plus UK member and have an anecdote you would like to share then we’d love to hear from you: email focus@potentialplusuk.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bemused Parent: Entry 1 I\u2019ve decided to start this diary, so that in time I\u2019ll be able to look back and see just how crazy life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001684,"featured_media":8232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,218],"tags":[215,217,216],"class_list":["post-8230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-focus","category-the-hlp-diaries","tag-books","tag-diary","tag-fiction"],"yoast_head":"\nThe HLP Diaries ...and then there's the books - Potential Plus UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/index.php\/2018\/06\/03\/the-hlp-diaries-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The HLP Diaries ...and then there's the books - 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