Growing up, I didn’t have a nightly ritual of snuggling up with my parents while they read books aloud to me and my sister.  Instead, I read books on my own when I was old enough to read.  I always wanted to have someone read me bedtime stories so I vowed that whenever God blessed me with my own children I would read to them every night.
Since becoming a mom almost three years ago, (I seriously cannot believe “Sparkles” is almost 3) I’ve managed to stick to my plan of daily read aloud time with the kids.  The only times I’ve skipped our read aloud sessions are the few times when I traveled out of town for work.  Other than that, I’ve been very consistent squeezing in 15-30 minutes of reading time each day either in the morning or at night.
Perhaps you can relate, but I believe reading aloud to the children over the past three years has made me a better mom.  Here’s how:

1. It Calms Me
Reading calms me and makes me feel productive.  It’s also a great stress reliever for me as it allows me to escape even if for just a few minutes.  This is a win-win for my entire family because when mommy’s happy, everyone’s happy.
2. It’s Boosting My Vocabulary
By reading books, magazines and blogs daily my vocabulary has increased tremendously.  Also, now that I’m learning Latin I’m gaining more knowledge and insight of how words were formed in English, Spanish and other foreign languages.  The kids will benefit from this directly because I’ll be able to pass on what I’m learning to them.
3. It Makes My Children Happy
I love seeing the look on the kids’ faces when I sit down to read to them.  They’ve come to expect that reading books will be a part of our day and whenever I say it’s story time their eyes light up and they run and go grab the books they want to read.  Love it!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST

About the author:
Charnaie is a Computer Programmer by day and a wife and mom 24/7.  She has over 15 years of experience in the Information Technology field.  She has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science/Information Technology.  She blogs over at Here Wee Read, (http://hereweeread.blogspot.com) where she shares the books that she reads aloud with her two children as well as the books she reads.  Charnaie makes no claims to be a parenting guru who has it all figured out.  Instead, she likes to refer to herself as a perfectly imperfect mom raising two children the best way she knows how.