Writing on the Pages

I don't like to write in books, generally. DP still teases me about the fill-in-the-blank millennium book that I just couldn't bear to write in. Hmmm, maybe that's why I haven't finished (or even progressed well) on the baby books.

In K-12, we weren't allowed to write in books. Maybe that's where I get it. By college, when I owned the book, I could sometimes bring myself to highlight, but that's about it. I like pristine copies of books--no folded pages, no writing, no bent spine. Which is contradictory, because I (intellectually) love the idea of a well-read, well-loved book. I guess I just don't like the way they look. Maybe that's because most of the books we're talking about are cheap paperbacks that get ratty before they are loved, not good hardcovers with gorgeous bindings and endpapers that can stand the test of time. But I'm not sure I'd write in those either.

Which is why it's odd that I'm writing in a cookbook, our Greatest Cookie Ever Made Book. I've inscribed it (something I rarely do with gifts because you never know if they're going to be returned) and started to make notes on the pages we've baked from, like a scrapbook for the kids, without all the extra paper and effort. I noted that DD likes butterscotch no-bake cookies, and that we all liked putting sugar sprinkles on the sugar cookies. Hopefully, we'll work our through the book.

And cover the pages with words describing the fun.

But I write in the book when the kids can't see--I really don't want them thinking they can write in books.

So we'll all have the same neurosis.