Not too long ago, I ran into an acquaintance from a few years back, and she said she had to ask me a question. Years ago, she attended a parent workshop I gave, and a comment I made apparently stuck with her all this time. In talking about the importance of reading with children, I advised the parents in attendance to always read for at least a few minutes every night with their children, no matter how exhausted or busy they were. At the time, I was a happy mama to an only child, who was still a toddler. Now that I’m the mom to three, she said she wondered if I was still able to walk the walk.
I thought for a split second and answered honestly and joyfully. “Yes, yes I do.”
Now mind you, this is mostly in reference to my four and five year old children, with whom I read a picture book or a few chapters each night. Currently, they are on a Magic Tree House kick, and we take fifteen minutes or so every night to knock out a couple of chapters. I believe we have the first 45 or so books, so this could go on for a while. When I was home with them for the past four years, we would also read regularly before nap time each day, in addition to our spontaneous times reading throughout the day. Since we have baskets or low shelves of books in just about every room in the house, both the ones we own and the supply that we always have checked out from the library, it’s always been easy to grab a fun book and drop everything and read for a little while.
With my eleven year old, our reading experiences have shifted a bit over the years. He was an independent reader by the beginning of kindergarten, but as every teacher will tell you, just because your child can read on his own doesn’t mean you should stop reading aloud with them. Over the years, we’ve moved up to reading novels together, and I cherish the moments when he’ll still snuggle up with me on the couch, as long as I have a book in my hands. Even if we don’t read a book together, I’m making time to read books that I know he has enjoyed, so we can talk about them together. Just giving him a chance to talk about what he liked about a story or a particular author makes it worth it. And, I’m really getting into some of these middle grade and Young Adult novels, too. (Percy Jackson is the new Harry Potter for me, right now!)
Either way, I do try to make sure that my kids and I have book time together every single day. With three kids and an 11-hour period away from home each weekday, it’s not an easy feat all the time, but I’m happy to know that I am indeed still walking the walk.
