Chloe is becoming a creature of habit.

She repeats everything her sisters say and do, to the best of her ability.

She shouts “Leave the door” at me if I slide down the hall in noise-reducing socks, reaching for the knob while behind the shadow of the soundproof booth strapped to my back.

She steals loose rocks from a neighbour’s driveway, collects them in her pocket and dumps them Hanzel & Gretyl style for the duration of our walk. Should we find ourselves lost, a block from home, look to the aggregate for clues.

Most recently, she’s discovered a love of books, a love I will gladly encourage provided it doesn’t interfere with my chocolate almond eating time or my cold sore research and how they seem to coincide with a high sugary-nut diet.

She drags her books from the shelf in the family room to her room and back. She places large stacks of books on her rocking chair and eagerly hops up to go through them one by one before calling it a night.

She tucks books under her arms for car-rides, wagon-rides, bike-rides, whale watching, anywhere she goes, so do her books.

She falls asleep with Elmo pressed against her face and wakes up with an Old Mother Hubbard’s (lift the flap) dog impression on her neck and shoulder.

She screams, “Read the book!” if I skip a page, phrase, word or expression, calling me out whenever I think I’m going to get out of this exercise unscathed. If I call the radiator in Lilly’s Chocolate Heart a heater so she can connect the dots between the heater in her room and the one in the story, she cups my cheeks in her hands, stares at me while pressing her nose against mine and calmly says, “read the book.”

Chloe: Mommy, read the book.

Me: I’ll be right….

Chloe: Mommy! Read the book!

Me: Okay, let me just…

Chloe: Mommy! Read the book, porch! Read the book porch Mommy! Read the book Mommy. Read the book. Porch Mommy. Porch Mommy. Porch, read the book Mommy. Book, porch, Mommy. Mommy, book, porch, Chloe, raisins, book, read. Porch! Book! Mommy! Bitch! Get! Reading!

There’s nothing more relaxing than a good book.