Much has been said about the benefits of reading to a child. Increased vocabulary, imagination development, increased critical thinking skills, and reading readiness are just a few. What they don't tell you is that once you start reading to your child at bedtime, they will not let you alter your routine. Our Doodle Bug simply refuses to settle down until some sort of story is read to her. I bet if she were older she would petition to have a bedtime story added to the US Bill of Rights. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if her father and I will be phoning in stories to her in her college dorm room.
As habituated as the bedtime story routine has become in our household, it really is a time when we have some one-on-one time with our little girl. Even on those nights when I think I cannot read Dooby Dooby Moo one more time, I find that at the end of the story, I really have had a good time. So I may drag my feet into it, but at the end I am thankful for the opportunity. In my thankfulness, I realize that not every parent has the luxury of easily providing books and cozy pajamas that really do make this nighttime routine a treat.
Send Your Dollar or $5
The Pajama Program has been providing books and pajamas for kids for 10 years. In 2011, their goal is to provide a new set of pajamas and a book to 440,000 kids. Based out of New York, the organization has both state and international chapters that enable them to help kids all across the globe.
The Pajama Program has a great list of all the ways you can help them. Ways include:
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