I have an eight-year-old son who is super energetic, loves being outdoors, plays super hard, and works pretty hard when I can get him to help me out. Well he used to be those things. About two weeks ago he came down with something and I’m starting to get worried. 

I’ve looked all over the internet for a cure, called specialists and surveyed experts, but not a single one of them knows what I can do for my son. If you have any thoughts on things to try, any home remedy or I don’t know, something. 

Symptoms

One of the first things I started noticing was his sleep. He stays up super late, sometimes even getting up after he’s been tucked into bed, and he wakes up way earlier than he used to. His activity levels have next to disappeared at home. When he gets home from school he sits on the couch. He has this weird thing going on with his hands, I think it’s attached, but every few days it changes shape, color, and thickness, sometimes it’s really hard while other times it’s soft. 

He seems super distracted all the time. Especially at the dinner table, or when he’s supposed to be getting ready for the day or at bedtime. Even in the car, he hardly talks, doesn’t sing along to songs he likes. This is all pretty out of character for him, but the symptoms aren’t like anything else I’ve seen on WebMD. 

I will say, the one great thing I’ve noticed coming out of his sickness is that he knows a lot of facts about Harry Potter, Narnia, and King Arthur, so I guess it can’t be that bad. 

How did he get infected?

When he was in second grade his school did a reading contest throughout the whole year where the goal was to read the most books in the class. While he didn’t win, he read over 200 books that year. Remember, this is first grade, so the books were quite small. When it was over, I was worried that he’d stop reading since there wasn’t a contest anymore. We kept encouraging him and even got him some series for his birthday and Christmas. 

He read those series pretty quickly, and then started on the Harry Potter series. He read 5 in just a few months, but just recently he really came down with the reading sickness. In the last two weeks he’s read about 10 books. Chapter books. Just yesterday he read three minecraft books and only stopped because we wouldn’t let him read the fourth one digitally. I LOVE IT!

It’s Hereditary

 I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when my son first started exhibiting the symptoms. Afterall, it runs in the family. Growing up I’d say my sister had it the worst, but I caught it as well. Reading is just in the blood.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

I guess I’ll wrap up with a big thank you to all the authors out there creating such wonderful content. 

If you’ve been thinking about writing a story please do. You never know who your story might reach and how their lives will be changed because of the characters you write, the adventures they go on, or the wisdom they impart. 

I know this post was a little more about my son and his reading, but reading and writing go together like words on a page. Without one, there can’t be the other. Start today, write something down. In fact, write everything down and you might be surprised by what you find.

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar

The Books He Read

• Dragon Masters #1 Rise of the Earth Dragon
• Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew
• The Legends of King Arthur Series (10 Books)
• Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles (6 Books)
• Minecraft Stonesword Saga: Books 1-5 (Book 6 will be done tonight)