So many books, so little time

Long time lurker first time poster. Sorry its a little long but there is some background needed for the whole story to make sense.

So I have a little story that just happened a few days ago. It is one of those situations where as a parent, you are kinda mad but also kinda proud.

My son is 8 years old. It took him a little while to really get into reading. We did not push him, we do not have him in public school where they are required to ready novels by kindergarten regardless of their development and readiness. We just let his desire to read blossom as his own pace.

This past year it has take off like a rocket. It is to a point where he is one of three students in his mixed grade class that has been assigned additional reading assignments just to keep him engaged. Lately his obsession has been The Bad Guys series of books by by Aaron Blabey. Last week we got the first 13 of 17 of The Bad Guys books and he has been obsessed and as of yesterday he has finished all 13 books.

The other night, we put him to bed around 8pm, which is on time for us. The book he had just started, Book 8 I believe, was on his dresser across the room. There are night lights in his room but not enough to read by. We also have a camera in his room because he has had issues in the past with sleep and he just got used to it being there and asked us to leave it in, its a comfort thing for him. AND he always sleeps with the covers over his head (also a comfort thing and this is important later.)

After we put him to bed and closed the door, he got up a tip toed across his room and got his book and snuck back into bed, all this while looking at the camera and back at the door to make sure we weren't coming. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he grabbed the LED lantern we keep on his night stand (mostly decoration but its functional just in case) and pulled it into bed as well. He then proceeded to cover himself back up and read for the next 45 minutes, completing the book under the covers by the lantern light, all the while his mother and I were none the wiser. When he finished he got up and came out and told us he couldn't sleep but quickly fessed up to what he did (without any prompting from us) with a sheepish grin. We would probably not have know if he hadn't said anything.

We were able to look back at the camera card and see what he had done and how careful he was to try and make sure we did not catch him in the act, like his own little spy movie.

On one had we were upset as it was a school night and he was supposed to be asleep, on the other hand, as avid readers ourselves, we were both proud that we have been able to instill the same love of reading and sense of wonder with books and the worlds within.

That is, thank you for making it this far.

TL/DR: Son sneaks book under covers after bedtime and voluntarily fesses up. We should be disappointed but proud instead that we had been able to instill the love of reading into him at this age.