Reading is Fundamental

You might remember the public service announcements on TV featuring the likes of Edward Asner and Carol Burnett in the 1970s promoting childhood literacy.
"Reading is thinking, learning, and growing," said Burnett.  "But a child won't read if he doesn't want to."
"Give a kid a book and you'll give a kid a break," said Asner.
One of my regular nighttime rituals is to read my three-year-old daughter two bedtime stories each night.  It has, by far, become one of her favorite pastimes.
And sometimes she wants a story, even if it's not bedtime or even close to it.
Since before she was born, my wife Margie and I began to build our collection of children's books for Savannah.
The Berenstain Bears, Peanuts, Alice in Bibleland, Sesame Street, and even a couple locally published children's books take up a cabinet in our entertainment center for Savannah's enjoyment.
We lay four books out on the Ottoman for her to choose which two she would like me to read to her.
She picks out two, and then during or after the first one, she decides to migrate from the hearth next to my recliner to my lap and snuggle.
And I don't mind that at all.
Having a Sunday through Thursday work schedule, Fridays afford me the opportunity to bond with my daughter.  This is a challenge, especially when there's work around the house that needs to be done.
But I never am too busy to read a book when she wants me to read to her.
And if I am busy, I ask her to wait a few minutes until I finish what I'm doing.
Then I go to the family room and sit in my recliner.  She sometimes keeps the chair warm for me.
Then we read together.
Sometimes we go through two or three books.
"I like it when you read to me," is what Savannah says.
Why more parents don't do this is beyond me.
It doesn't require much time or effort.  Just sitting in a comfortable chair with your child in your lap, with your words taking them to places their imaginations shape into places of fantasy.
And imagination is key.
It makes you wonder how their little minds work the way they do.
I read her one Peanuts book where Linus gives up his security blanket and goes door-to-door trying to solicit other kids with insecurity issues into accepting his method of cure.
One, a little girl, snaps Linus with her own blanket, knocking him over.
In doing so, the illustration shows the girl snapping the blanket at Linus, who falls with his feet in the air and his backside to the reader.
But this is lost on my daughter.
"He doesn't have a head," she says in her sweet little voice.
I can't help but burst into laughter.  The things they say.
I manage to compose myself long enough to explain that Linus has his head...you just can't see it in the picture because his butt's in the way.
"Oh," she says.
Then I re-test her the next time she reads it by saying "He doesn't have a head".
"He has a head," she says.  "You just can't see it cuz his butt's in the way."
A plus.
Spend time with your kid.  If you're not someone who'll get down on the floor and play with your child, you'll find that reading still fills the bill just fine.
Because they know they have your undivided attention for a few minutes.
And you'll have memories that last a lifetime.


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