Teary Eyes and Read Alouds

[JessMcG]

Whenever I'm reading something emotional I tend to get teary-eyed rather easily. DD can pick up on my shaky voice immediately. Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing. Is anyone like me? Have you figured out a way to become detached from the story?

[Melinda]

I do this, too, and tend to pass the book on to either Jared or my husband when that happens. When I can read again, they give it back.

[calandalsmom]

This happens to me a lot. I think its embarassing too but then I remind myself that its not embarrassing to show emotions to my kids and struggle through. LOL

 

And books which I know will be impossible (Roll of Thunder for example) I do on audio to avoid sobbing through too much of it.

[mom4him]

Whenever I'm reading something emotional I tend to get teary-eyed rather easily. DD can pick up on my shaky voice immediately. Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing. Is anyone like me? Have you figured out a way to become detached from the story?

I am so like this especially when it is missionary stories. After my sis. past away a couple of years ago I cried when I read almost anything. That doesn't happen any more but those missionary stories still get me.:tongue_smilie:

I guess I don't even try to hide it anymore. My kids still want to know why I am crying and I generally tell them. Normally it is just the sacrifice that these people and their families so willingly made. I guess I have come to realize that it is good for them to see this and know in a deeper way what happened.

[Chris in VA]

Oh, goodness, I'm a big cryer when it comes to certain parts of certain books. I say, why shield my dc from my emotional response to literature? It interrupts a bit, that's true, but it also shows my humanity, the power of the written word, and that it's ok to be affected by someone else's experiences, ideas, joys and sorrows. It's one of the beauties of reading aloud--and can help parent and child bond over the shared experience of reading aloud.

 

Concentration and deep breathing can help--don't let your mind wander to your own life (if, for example, the passage is about something or someone dying, try not to think of the deaths in your own life). Humor helps, too--Oh, there's weepy Mom again! But honestly, I think it's ok to get emotional and not something to be embarrassed about.

[Stacie]

Have you tried reading it a few times before, especially the really emotional sections? Maybe that would mentally prepare you for it and help your composure. Maybe you can ask a librarian what they do, since they often read aloud to patrons.

 

I really wouldn't worry about it, I know it's fairly common. You're teaching your dd that displaying emotions, even emotions of others is perfectly normal. Consider it socialization training for her--you're modeling sympathy and empathy! ;)

[Nestof3]

I'm the same way. I just be me -- I figure it lets my boys know that it's okay to be touched by something and display emotion.

[Remudamom]

I had to read Where the Red Fern Grows to a bunch of kids. It was awful at the end. I was awful at the end.

[Cricket]

You're teaching your dd that displaying emotions, even emotions of others is perfectly normal. Consider it socialization training for her--you're modeling sympathy and empathy! ;)

 

:001_smile: So that's what I've been doing! Dd and I have made it through one Five In A Row book. I teared up every time and we read it five times. She didn't know though since she was focused on the book. She would just say, "Keep reading! Why are you stopping?" A while back she picked out a book called Someday at the library. It's a short picture book about a mom and a dd. The dd grows from an infant to a mother herself. Near the end it says, "Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun. And when that day comes, love, you will remember me." Oh, by then I was crying!

[MamaT]

I do this a lot. I just pass the book to an older child to read until I can get myself together!

[greensummervillian]

My eyes are damp just reading this thread! Yes, I cry for read alouds. I remember when my fourth grade teacher read "Where the Red Fern Grows" to our class she had to stop reading because of her tears. I also remember putting my head down and trying not to be too obvious about my crying, but when I looked up I saw that I was not the only one. That is a positive, warm memory for me.

[joannqn]

I had to read Where the Red Fern Grows to a bunch of kids. It was awful at the end. I was awful at the end.

 

Me too. I think I was more affected by the end of that book than any other book I've read...ever. I had tears pouring out of my eyes and sobbing those huge, big sobs that you just can't talk over. My daughter offered to finish reading for me...and I was afraid of how she'd react to the story.

[Kim in Appalachia]

sometimes my kids will laugh at me, sometimes they will cry along with me. I think it's a compliment to the author that he/she was able to pull you in so well.

[stephanie78]

I cry all the time when I read. I get really emotional lately. I think it has a lot to do with being a mom myself and then losing several family members over the past few years. Like one of the previous posters said my kids barely realize I am upset though because they are so engrossed in the book.

[myfunnybunch]

I am a huge sap.

 

I've found that if I look out the window while I read and focus on something neutral as I finish each sentence, it keeps me from breaking down and sobbing so that I can't finish the story. :D (I hope that makes sense. I usually take in a sentence or two at a time, so I can look up from the story or daydream while I'm reading.)

 

Where the Red Fern Grows is one of my favorites. We were all crying at the end of that one. And The Journey of Edward Tulane. :crying:

 

I'm with Chris in VA--it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I realized I need to be more open about my own responses to books recently when my 8 y.o. was re-telling the story of the day he was born. He got all teary when he said "And then you picked me up and held me and kissed me and named me." But he was embarrassed that he was crying about it. I realized I need to model that an honest emotional response is nothing to be embarrassed about. Heck, I need to learn that myself.

 

Cat

[scrappyhappymama]

I realized I need to be more open about my own responses to books recently when my 8 y.o. was re-telling the story of the day he was born. He got all teary when he said "And then you picked me up and held me and kissed me and named me."

 

Ok that made me teary-eyed. What a sweetie!

[Winni]

When I was reading The Bronze Bow I got choked up quite a bit. "Will you love for me 'till the end?" Oh! Be still my heart!

 

I actually start to giggle from embarassment when I do it...so it breaks up the boo hooing a bit.

[ladydusk]

Am I the only one who can't get through the last story in The House at Pooh Corner without becoming a blubbering fool? I will admit that my read-aloud history is shorter than many of yours, but, seriously, someone should have warned me!

[Alicia64]

Showing how a story is effecting you is one of the coolest things about homeschooling. I try to keep my act together for the most part but I think it deepens the experience for the child if he/she sees the mom tear up -- it drives home the authors' point that this is a poignant moment.

 

Can't get that in school/school -- the teachers won't likely let themselves tear up in front of 30 kids.

 

Alicia

[RegularMom]

I choke up at that one too. That, and the Velveteen Rabbit.

 

Gets me every time.

[Brilliant]

These are read alouds that have broken me up:

 

All Those Secrets of the World

Ginger Pye

Owls in the Family

 

I didn't read aloud Where the Red Fern Grows - but we all cried at the end of the movie.

[Sharon H in IL]

Normal. Fine. :D

[Claire in NM]

Both times...

 

The first was Johnny Tremain and the second was The Hiding Place.

 

When it first happened I was reading and then all of a sudden my voice started cracking and I held up the book to cover my face, but then...I just had to get up and excuse myself. When I returned to the story I just told him that sometimes books just make me cry.

 

After the second episode, I realized that he didn't think my crying was worth mentioning. Oh, well.

 

However, when my dd witnessed my crying spell while reading Little Women, she just looked at me funny and all I could say was "I can't help it."

 

Maybe I should read the books first before I read them aloud to my dc.

 

Claire in NM

[Nestof3]

Speaking of books that make me cry.

 

Mountain Born and A Day No Pigs Would Die made me cry -- the latter made me bawl.

[OneRoomSchoolHouse]

My all time tear jerker book is "Just In Case You Ever Wonder" by Max Lucado. I am such a cry baby! Even if I watch TV and someone is crying, I start to cry too. My dd looks at me and says "Oh Mom!".

 

My dad is pretty emotional too; he was over at our home watching a sad movie. My dd saw him crying and looked very puzzled. She pulled me aside and said "Mom, I didn't know men could cry". Ah, the innocence of children.

[SLH in ND]

Yep, I'm a sap, too. I cry when reading books, reading sappy (though typically untrue) email stories, watching movies, listening to certain songs.....

 

Unfortunately, though, I have not found a "remedy" for my sappiness (if that's even a word??!!). Two of my girls roll their eyes at me, but my youngest dd gives me hugs and tells me it's okay.

 

Ditto what others say about not being embarrassed and that it's good to show your children those emotions!

 

Sheri

Mom to 3 super daughters and wife of 14 years, 364 days to the world's greatest hubby!

[eaglei]

Yep - count me in with the criers - over books, movies, songs . . . :crying:

[Jean in Newcastle]

My kids don't really like it when I cry because it makes them tear up too

(shh. . . esp. ds11). But they just pat my back and say "It's just a book, Mom!"

[ElizabethB]

In our church in Alabama, they read the chapter you can download from Karen Kingsbury's "Let Me Hold You Longer," 99% of the women in church were bawling, and there were quite a few men furtively wiping their eyes.

 

I can't own the book, I would cry every time.

 

Here, have a good cry, click this link then download the chapter:

 

http://www.karenkingsbury.com/books/childrensTitles/LetMeHoldYouLonger/

[Jumping In Puddles]

I cry reading aloud books that aren't even sad! :eek: I find it helps if I read them often then I don't get teary after a few readings.

 

Books that are actually sad, I have a hard time continuing and pass the book along to dh to finish. :001_huh: