A Father's Bedtime Story

Our second guest post in a series on reading and kids.

Guest Blogger: Bryan Bossart

Father, Reader, Wordsmith

1,573. 

That’s roughly the number of nights I've read to my boys (ages 10 and 8) over the past decade. It sounds impressive until I realize my wife is probably at around 2,000 or so (we usually alternate every other night, but sometimes Monday Night Football is on). If you do the math, you’ll surmise that there are only a handful of times that our children have ever gone to bed without a story. If it’s bedtime… we’re reading. It’s not something we decided as we skimmed What to Expect When You’re Expecting or surmised after an especially riveting episode of Reading Rainbow. It’s something that just happened. It’s our routine.

For the last five or six years, the evening ritual has remained the same: “Brush your teeth. Put on your PJs.  Pick a book”.  Once the book is chosen (almost always by them), we snuggle in and read for 20-30 minutes.  It’s a great way for all of us to wind down and connect at the end of the day. 

We’ve visited a fox with socks, a wizard with a chip on his shoulder, a super hero who only wears underpants, and many others.  We've read picture books, pop-up books, chapter books, comic books.  If it’s bound and has printed type, we've read it… no prejudice allowed. 

I wish I could pinpoint a defining moment during one of these reading sessions.  A night when my impression of Grover was so spot on that a 20 minute laugh riot ensued… or a time when the light of knowledge burned brightly above my children’s heads as they learned the differences between frogs and toads… you know, a real “this is why we read to our kids” moment.

The problem is… I can’t.  But then again, maybe it doesn’t happen that way.  Maybe all the small moments we’ve shared link together and grow.  Maybe they lead to something bigger.

Maybe that’s why both boys perform well at school (not only in reading, but in math and social studies and science…). 

Maybe that’s why both boys are open to new knowledge and new experiences. 

Maybe that’s why both boys are well behaved when we go out in public. 

Maybe that’s why both boys choose to read on their own another half hour after we put them to bed. 

Nah...it's gotta be the Grover impression.

Bryan, thank you for sharing your love of reading with your family with us! Bed-time reading is an important ritual that promotes literacy as well as a life-long love of reading. The snuggles are priceless too. For more on what reading and books can do for kids see our previous posts: http://recyclemeorganictees.blogspot.com/2012/12/all-i-want-for-christmas-isa-book.html