Reading With My Child

I absolutely loved reading with my children. Every evening as we were winding down for the evening, I would have the opportunity to slide a child next to me on the couch and we would open up a children’s book.

Sometimes it was a picture book, sometimes an easy reader, and sometimes it was a young adult fiction book. It really depended on the reading level and the child’s desires. With some books my son or daughter would read each page to me. With other, more wordy children’s chapter books, they would read one page to me, and I would read one page to them. We went on wonderful virtual adventures together. The antics of the “Cat In The Hat” or the problems solved by the Berenstain Bears filled our evenings.

I used the ideas from the books that we read as the basis of the stories that I would tell my children on occasion. Sometimes my kids asked for a bed time story, and though I would change up the stories a bit, I retold the tales a number of times. As my children got older, and started reading wholly on their own, I found I had no new fodder for my stories , and the kids got tired of the same old stories, so the stories mostly ceased.

I think back on those days very fondly, and think, If I could have one father’s day gift today, it would be to step back in time for an hour and read one more story with my son or daughter. One of them cradled under my arm and slowly sharing a single children’s book before bed.

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Children need memories. Make time every night to read with your child. Ignite their imagination, and show them by your actions that spending time with them is important to you.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads out there.