Reading Is Getting in the Way of Other Good and Necessary Things

Both of my boys are big readers too, and I'm an English teacher so I love it. However, I understand the need to do other things in life as well. My boys have to finish other things before they can read - brush teeth, put on jammies or get ready for school, do homework, etc. Also, if it's a pretty day, I'll just say that it's a day for playing outside, not reading, and that's that. No books that day. Once they get outside they end up having fun and forget about wanting to read. It's wonderful that your son wants to read so much, but you're right, life must go on. :-)

If he wants to read in the mornings before school..maybe try waking him up 15 mins earlier to allow him to read for 15 mins...use reading as a privilege ..he can earn extra reading time if he does certain things he needs to do in a timely manner. Hth!!

My oldest daughter was the same way. She earned minutes to read by getting the other stuff done. That way, she got her homework done, got dressed...etc... and got to read too. I made her "check out" her books from me. They lived on the bar in the kitchen or on a shelf in the living room, and she had to sign them in and out. It sounds extreme, but I was at my whits end.

:-)

T.

While it is awesome that he is reading, I wonder if you have an opportunity here to help him with his choices. I mean that you can use this as a lesson of how important it is to have moderation in ALL things. You can explain that he wouldn't want to eat just cookies for his diet because it would make him unhealthy and it would be unbalanced. Same as for reading - it's a wonderful thing but too much of it isn't good for you either. In my mind I think "escapism" "social avoidance" and I'm sure there are more ways we can use something to excess that is otherwise good for us. In grade school I went to the library every day it was open in the summer and would check out more and more books. My home life was miserable, I had nothing to do, and it was so much more fun to "be in the book".
I don't think it's an illness - I think it was a great coping mechanism for me and helped me survive.
Best of luck, God Bless.