Guest Post from Michelle

Keep those guest posts coming! Thanks again to Jamie for her words yesterday. Today Michelle shares some of her thoughts on making books and reading a part of her family life.  I've known Michelle for a long time, back to when she was dating her husband, Jeff, early on in college and when I first met my husband, Jeff (the Jeffs were roommates) in 2001-2002. She is a very fun and hands-on mother to her three cute kids, and I thank her for taking the time to contribute to the Look at Books series!

One of my favorite pictures of Michelle and Jeff...even if it's not so recent
source

Books are an important part of my home. Ever since I was a child I have always loved books. As a teacher I collected books to use with my class, and one day with my children. When my oldest daughter was a baby, my husband and I would read books to her. Reading gradually became an important part of our daily routine. As we have added children to our family, reading has continued to be an important part of the day. My oldest, Lydia, can’t seem to go to sleep without having a book read to her.

Reading is important in our family because it builds bonds. Reading is a time for me to be close to my  children. We snuggle, share feelings about the book, and just enjoy each other’s company. It is building good memories with my children, and helping to teach them life principles. We sometimes will have activities with books that help to further our enjoyment (and memories), and to reinforce the principle of reading.

The library is a fun activity for us. Finding a new book is like finding a new friend, and reading ones we have read before is like seeing an old friend we haven’t seen for a while. As soon as we get home, we have a reading party and read as many books as we can. Then throughout the time we have them, we read them over and over and over again.

My children are learning to love books through my love of books, and hopefully through their own enjoyment of books. We are able to build bonds with each other, and enjoy fun activities together. I hope to be able to share my love of books with my own children, and eventually with other children again, for a long time.

Next week Michelle will tell us a little bit about what she did when she worked as a Reading Recovery teacher, so stay tuned!