antoinette, Many years ago I dated a man who told me he had been married and divorced twice. I accepted this. As the relationship went on he told me he had a daughter and showed me a picture of a very pretty girl. OK. Our relationship, also long distance but not as far as yours, LA to Boston progressed. Unlike yours we saw each other relatively frequently for such a long distance, about a couple of times a month. Even that wasn't really a lot but at least we did see each other. We talked on the phone everyday, sometimes several times a day. We became engaged. He came out for a couple of weeks over the holidays, gave me a ring and we started making wedding plans. I went to Boston and over dinner he sprung two big things, first, that he had been married and divorced THREE times, not just two and that he had very restrictive visitation with his daughter. I soon learned that his 2nd ex-wife had a restraining order against him because he had been violent and had threatened her. Other things soon came out as well like a former gambling problem. Had we lived in the same city most of that would have come to light much earlier. Before long, I broke it off because he had lied, by ommission, about so many things. Who knows what else would have come out after marriage? Long distance relationships are tough because so much is built on trust and there is more than a dash of fantasy to them as well. This man has already told you a wagonload of lies. Big Ones. Thank your lucky stars and move on. This isn't about his kids, at least the four you know about! This is about him.

books to be read to - I do not have much experience with this, but I know when I read to my friends three year old, he seems to enjoy interactive books and books that he has to find/do things in. But I would think for the little older to be read to's Shel Silversteins poetry collections Where the Side walk Ends and A light in the Attic - the funny poems and illustrations appealed to me at that age (lol and still to this day) books for young readers (6-10 ish) - Ramona Series by Beverly Cleary. These are wonderful books! The next two were harder, as I tried to base them on more modern books. I ended up picking the two that were my nephews favorites that we read and discussed when he was that age. He didnt enjoy reading, but read these two several times. books for young teens - The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. This is a great book for kids who like the horror genre, but arent ready for Stephen King :) I believe the reading age is 10 and up, and I believe we read this when he was around 12. A wonderful story about a boy that is bored with his life and ends up at Mr. Hoods Holiday House, where all the seasons pass in a day and you can do and have everything your heart desires - for a price. books for older teens, young adults - Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson. This is an amazing book for people of all ages, although it is geared specifically towards YA. It is a great story about the struggles a young man must face with his brothers after his mother dies. Wanted to put a Jack London book on here, but was not sure if that would be considered a childrens book, even though I read it when I was quite young (10 or 12 I think)

i finish most books that i start, but i have no trouble stopping one if i really don't like it!! it is interesting how some books really appeal to some people and not at all to others! one of my fav books is crime and punishment- probably only because i took a class in college that analyzed it in depth and reading it that way was really amazing!! i loved it and read it a couple of times-- but, i'm sure that i would have put that book down if i had just picked it up and started to read it...

Envy When I was a kid, my father, mother and my older brother used to read novels in the living room on Saturday , and I used to read cartoons. I was envious of them because it seemed to me only adults were able to read books. So from time to time I tried reading a book, there was one in particular whose cover attracted me, there were a boy and a girl and in the background a lighthouse , but every time I started reading it I got bored after a few pages. But one Christmas I was ten or eleven, an aunt of ours gave my brother quite a good present. It was a little bookcase where forty book were stored. There were all the classic ones. Little Man and…. Little Woman and… Tom Sawer , Mompracem Tigers (Sandokan) Uncle Tom’s cabin , White Fang , The Call of the Wilde, Ivanhoe, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and so on Among them there was a title that enticed me “The Paul Street Boys”. I started it and I got hooked. The story is about two young bands who are fighting for a place to play, which is owned by the Paul Street Boys, it is an old timber yard, so the other band the Red Shirts wage war on the Street Boys. First they make an agreement about the rules to follow, about who must be considered dead or caught and other ones, because there is not any meanness between them, the Red Shirts wage war because their hangout is in a botanical garden and they need a place in order to play football. The story is set in Hungary and the author is Ferenc Molnar. Of course there are other plots , but the main thread is the war. I liked it so much that once I finished I reread it eight times on a row, except the last chapter because one of main character dies of pneumonia and this made me cry a lot. Afterward I read all the other ones. This is how I started reading novels.