Our family – my husband, our two middle-school girls and me – have developed a habit of reading aloud together at the dinner table after we have eaten. Right now we are reading through “Around the World in Eighty Days” by Jules Verne. Daddy reads and performs the voices of the different characters. And we listen, laugh and make our comments at appropriate moments.

Last night after reading together, we began discussing other books we’ve been enjoying. I made the comment, “I finished ‘The Warriors of Nin’ last night when I couldn’t get to sleep.” Then I added, “I skipped the warfare parts and just read the chapter about Durwin and his companions.”

“MOM!” my eldest daughter exclaimed. She was shocked, scandalized and disappointed at Mom’s “cheating”. “You can’t do that!” she reproved me. “You can’t just skip chapters! That’s not reading the book!”

I do agree with her, but I tried to justify myself. “I didn’t peek ahead to the end of the book,” I said. (The end is the sacred part of the book. It is “verboten” to read the last page first!) “I just skipped some of the battle scenes,” I added. “MOM!” her outcry was undiminished – obviously, I just wasn’t “getting it”.

So we continued our conversation around the table, while my daughter busied herself with a few index cards, a felt pen, stapler, scissors and a hole punch. A few minutes later she presented each of us with a little coupon booklet. The first page read: “Maria Points: Promotes good reading habits”. Following this was three pages with ten inked circles on each page. She explained that for every book of 200 pages or more that we completed reading without skipping pages or skipping to the end, we could receive one “Maria Point” and have one hole punched out on the card. When we’ve collected 10 punched holes (Maria Points), my daughter promised us a special treat. This is how it reads on the card: “Ten points good for choosing whatever Maria says you can (choices may vary).”

My daughter’s ingenuity and proactive plan to “promote good reading habits”, surprised and delighted me. Much can be said about the wealth and treasure that may be found in books, but greater wealth and treasure is found…in daughters! I’m smiling – and developing good reading habits!