The Power of Narrative

I read.  A lot.  

 

(Maggie at 5 months)

It started during my childhood.  We would pile onto my parents' bed and my mother would read novels aloud to us.  When I was old enough, I began reading to my siblings -- bedtime stories to my younger sister when I was in elementary school,classic children's literature to my youngest brothers when I was in middle school.  (And all the books that were banned from the library when I was in high school...but just to myself.  Reading banned books should be a solitary endeavor.)

Because I love books, it was natural for me to begin reading aloud to my own children as soon as I found out I was pregnant with the first. 

Six years later, we still read together every night. Each of my girls reads a picture book with mommy while the other puts on jammies, brushes teeth, etc.  When everyone is situated in their beds, they listen to me read a chapter from the Little House series.  

And when all the kisses and hugs are done and little eyes are closed for the night, I sneak to my own room and read until I fall asleep, too.

"A Story"

by Lena