Memorizing Books

Last night, The brunet had me read the same book five times in a row. (Courdoroy.) I took it as a challenge to improve my delivery every time. The voice of the bear was pretty solid (I was going for a sort of drunk toddler), as was the voice of Lisa, the little girl who buys the bear (her voice was nasally but adorable). Lisa's mom sounded like she was on quaaludes. The security guard was jolly, if inconsistent, and the salesperson sounded different every time. After five readings, I talked my client into taking a little rest. If, I told him, he could stay quiet and still for five minutes with his eyes closed, I would happily read the book to him again.

I waited patiently.  I reminded him that the deal was for him to stay quiet, still and with his eyes closed. After a few false starts, he had the quiet and still part down, but his eyes were still open. I could tell because I cleverly peeked with only one eye. I have convinced myself that when I do this, my clients don't notice, and that they think I am "resting my eyes" along with them.

All the clients have gone through the same-book-five-or-fifteen-times-in-a-row phase. The repetition is comforting. It lets me relax knowing that, probably, the phase will pass. I had time to think about this last night while I was waiting for the brunet to get bored enough to close his eyes. This specific developmental stage, I decided, is probably very beneficial for language development. It deserved it's own catchy name: I came up with HILT (High-Intensity Literary Training.) There's a whole jargon that could go along with this... Reps and sets, etc.

I haven't googled it yet, so I don't know if I can trademark it...and, of course, it's possible that someone else came up with a better name while they were peeking at their client through one eye while pretending to sleep.

I'm open to suggestions.