> At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning.
I did something similar as a child, with my guards being my parents (oh what a metaphor). Looking back, as someone who does not read a vast amount any more, I was privileged with both the means, and the inclination, to have such a habit. God knows it made me who I am.
One of my recent proud moments as a parent was catching my 7yo up at midnight reading her favourite book of Greek myths.* I can verify it's not actually possible to tell a child off for doing precisely what you both did as kids and deeply approve of. I actually convinced her she did need to sleep by pointing out how tired she'd been that morning, and she did have school in the morning ...
Good parents will learn not to listen too closely to whether their children are asleep or reading - great parents will make sure the flashlight batteries are periodically replaced.
Managed to convince my 7yo midnight reader that she needed to get to sleep so she wouldn't be tired for school in the morning. Sweet reason! It works on kids on rare occasions!
I did something similar as a child, with my guards being my parents (oh what a metaphor). Looking back, as someone who does not read a vast amount any more, I was privileged with both the means, and the inclination, to have such a habit. God knows it made me who I am.