We All Have the Laps

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
Emilie Buchwald

This quote gives me chills whenever I read it. If I could tell every new parent just one thing that I've learned, one thing that I know to be true...this would be it.

Read. Just read...everything, everyday. Build a huge library of books and make reading the most special thing you do together. Cuddle close and read, read, read. Don't save it for bedtime, don't wait for a magic age, and don't stop when your child goes off to school.

It's the secret. A secret I wish I could confide, but since I don't see parents when their children are still this young, that continues to be my wish. Sadly, by the time I'm in the picture, that window has closed. And for all that I do, and how much I dedicate myself to the teaching of reading, I will never be able to give kids what their parents might have long before me.

Can you imagine how smart, how inquisitive, and how verbal this next generation of our children would be if every parent read to their toddlers and preschoolers every single day? Just think about it for a minute. It's such a monumental challenge, and yet...wouldn't it be so easy? The books are all around us. We have the desire. We have the time. And we all have the laps.

Just think how amazing the world could be 20 years from now if we put them to better use.