What Do You Do When They Say “I Don’t Want to Read That”

A picture of a little boy pouting in a chair.
I don’t wanna.

Today’s blog post is more of a plea for advice than anything else, because I find myself at a loss.

You see, I’ve been blessed with two kids who love to read as much as I do.

Until now.

Up until last week, I’ve never had to beg, bribe or threaten either of my children to read a book.

Then, the beginning of school and the first reading assignment came along.

This year, for the “beginning of the year reading project,” the school assigned one book to all students rather then giving them a choice of books.

And it’s a book he hates. Which means he has absolutely no desire to read the thing.

Unfortunately for me, the boy and I share one very annoying trait: stubbornness.

Like me, if the youngest is uninterested in something, there’s very little in the world that can make him do it. While I didn’t outgrow this annoying trait, I did eventually discover that some things have to be done whether they’re interesting or not. It’s a lesson I’m now in the process of trying to teach a stubborn youngster.

The boy who finished the 7th Harry Potter book in less than a day has taken a week to read 110 pages. I’ve tried everything: orders, cajoling, bribery, threats. One or more of those have worked well in the past, but we’re still only 110 pages into the book.

He’d rather do dishes, by hand, than read this book.

He’s gone so far as to take a book from his personal library, with a cover similar to the “evil” one, to fool his stepdad and I into thinking he’s reading the assigned one. (Once we caught on, the imposter book got confiscated.)

So now I make a heartfelt appeal to you: When you’ve run against a similar situation with your children, how do you help them learn that whether they like it or not, they have to do it anyway?

Photo Credit: Karen Bristow