As a kid I loved to read. My parents did too, so it felt very familiar to me to have a book always within arms reach. I have such fond memories of snuggling up and reading together with my mom. When I became a parent I was eager to share some of my favorite stories from my childhood with my own kids. This was the first year that my 7 year old really warmed to the idea of sitting down and reading a chapter book together. Her dad picked Roald Dahl’s Matilda, promising a movie night when the book was done. They had the best time reading together. On several occasions our kid came bounding down the hall to tell me delightful and surprising discoveries from that night’s reading. “Mom! You won’t believe who Ms. Honey’s cousin is!” While I think Matilda is a story all kids should read, I’m more excited to have started this fun tradition of reading together. I think my 3 year old is in it for the popcorn, and I’m hoping the positive association will get her excited to share chapter books together in the (near?) future.
Now if only I could get some movie theater quality popcorn…