Reading Aloud to Children--Marcia

My ten year old has been doing sleep-overs since he was five. He was shocked to discover that none of these friends were "put to bed."

At two out of his top three sleep-over joints they watch TV until they pass out. At the third, they are told to climb in, clothes and all, and the lights are switched off.

So the discussion ensued. Daniel wanted to know if this was the usual routine. The answer--Pretty much.

I have been reading to my kids from the moment they arrived home from the hospital. I can remember being stretched out on a loveseat in front of the bay window, just days after coming home from the birthing center, with Daniel splodged out on my chest, reading him "Goodnight Moon."

Bedtime is one of the only times Mommy slows down, so we head in early. Jammies, tooth-brushing, running around screaming and batting each other with anything (favorites include leftover tubing from my mother's oxygen machine and the duster from the vacuum--how can they resist that bit of yellow fluff on the end of a wand?), there's usually some farting and jumping on beds and wrestling, then Mommy shouts and we all settle down and get cozy.

Each kid gets books and songs. For years the only song Daniel would let me sing was "Frere Jacque". Once in French, once in English. Anything else sent him into orbit, now "Frere Jacque" works like one of Pavlov's experiments. I can hum a few bars and clunk---he's punched out like a shopgirl's time clock.

The boys have been pushing bedtime out later, so reading time is shorter. Some nights, I don't get up to Daniel's bunk in time for stories. I thought this was okay, that it was time for him to read to himself, separate, grow up. But I was wrong.

As he is pushed in school to read for "AR points" the joy has been taken out of reading, it seems like a chore and a punishment. As he gets teased for being different (He sings, has my favorite girl Maia over every once-in-awhile, goes to the Craterian with his parents, has some girth on him, and is not allowed to hit or swear.) it is even more important that I climb up there with him and pull out some of the old favorites: Man Between The Towers, Piggie Pie, Tacky the Penguin, The Giving Tree, Harold and the Purple Crayon . . . As boy life gets harder, the familiar pictures and stories help him feel secure and loved.

We get home late last night from basketball practice. Hoops are interfering with bedtime for both kids. He knows he still has reading to do. He is calculating that there is not enough time for both reading and stories. I know he really wants the stories.

"You know, Mom, I am the only one of my friends that gets read to." Another thing he is teased about!

This is not a new conversation. He's been pondering this since that very first sleep over.

"I know, buddy, but most people do read to their kids . . . You can tell who gets story time, by how they think and speak . . . Not every kid uses words like delicious, velocity, momentum, and beautiful. You guys have vocabularies and imagination from all that time with books. That's just what we want for you."

Daniel's been needing an edge over his bone-headed friends lately. This answer seems to give him a glimmer. But, in truth, I don't know many people who read to their kids. I can only think of two.

But I know I'm on the right track, James came home from Kindergarten with a book about himself and his family as his Valentine to us. His favorite time of day? Bedtime. I think Daniel would say the same. So, I'll keep reading, keep singing, and falling asleep in the top bunk with my tennis shoes on.



PS. In a brief search on the benefits of reading aloud, I came across a site called Family Education. There, under a tab called "Mom's Coffee Break" I got some great laughs reading posts by "Max's Daddy," by Jess M. Ballier. Very, very funny, especially if you have rambunctious boys.