Find time to read to your kids..

 

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 If I were to give an unsolicited advice to parents who want their kids to develop the love for learning and communication, it would be to "find time to read to them".

At this point in time when my only real quality time with my son is towards bedtime, away from the distractions of housework and television or the intenet, I really relish our pre-bedtime routine. It starts (and by start that would mean after a few minutes of running around to catch him or coercing him to finally want to go to bed) with a bubble bath and ends with both of us lying side by side and reading two or three stories, one of which is a story about bulldozers and heavy equipment - his personal favorite!

I'd like to consider my son as especially gifted (but as parents, don't we all?). His milestones, both physically and mentally were quite advanced - he learned to walk and talk and a lot of other things way earlier than most kids his age. At 3 years and 7 months, he already knows most colors, could sing a lot of songs and is already very articulate he says things in complete sentences. 

I remember a cellphone video from when he was merely 2 months old, I was breastfeeding him then and while talking to him, with his eyes fixed on mine, he cooed and responded even if no words were coming out of his mouth. I had shared that video and aptly captioned it "you don't need words to make meaningful conversations". 

He's also personalized his bedtime prayer by adding the names of family members, uncles and a same-age cousin who right now is sick and undergoing treatment. It makes for a longer bedtime prayer but totally worth it because then I know he thinks not only of himself but of others as well.

Just a weekend ago, my son was talking to his uncle about why he was scared of seashells even if he was bigger than them and could eat them;  he said because when the shells look at him, they come out and say "surprise!" As a mother listening in to the conversation, all I could do was smile and feel just a little proud.

Although, I'd like to take full credit for it all by saying "it's in the genes!", I'd have to say that it was probably also because even while he was in my tummy, I always found time to read to him and when he was growing up, I surrounded him with books and showed him my love for reading and my love for words!

 

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I don't know if it's a normal conversation between parent and child but once he started learning to talk, part of our conversations even included me spelling words and him spelling it with me. We also spoke in songs by using familiar tunes and changing the lyrics to pretty much anything we could think of. .

I've always loved words and stories and relish experiencing it by reading and because of that, my son, too love words and stories. 

And just very recently, I had discovered that he had memorized the first sentence of his bulldozer story and he is quick to impress me by saying (while holding the book and looking at its front page like he was actually reading it..) "Diggers are noisy, strong and big!". This he does with the widest most proudest grin on his face! 

And each time, I smile proudly and say to myself, "Yes, indeed, reading is indeed one of the best gifts I'd given my son. Something that he can be proud of, nurture and even share."

You too can give that gift to your children..it's never too late if you start now! 

7/13/15 @2:00pm