There is little that I truly miss about my life before motherhood. The reality is, I’ve always been an early riser and I’ve never slept well. So the sleeplessness aspect of motherhood was not foreign to me.
Life was certainly quieter back then, and sometimes I miss that, but I mostly embrace this chaos. I know it is a short season.
What I do miss about my life before kids is the reading.
I used to read for hours, sometimes days. I remember leaving work on a Friday evening after a long week and fantasizing about a weekend of nothing but amazing books.
And my summer vacations? Man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to read endlessly like that again!
I used to read like that when I was little, too. When I was young, my parents went on vacation and my brothers and I stayed with my cousins. Since I wasn’t into nerf guns and army games, my aunt bought me Beverly Cleary’s entire Ramona Quimby series.
I devoured it.
And then, once finished, I went back and devoured it again.
It was a fantastically fun week of reading!
And now, my children adore Ramona and Henry every bit as much as I did, decades ago!
Beverly Cleary has helped to grow generations of readers. Tomorrow, she turns 100 years old. Every year, on her birthday, schools across the nation celebrate D.E.A.R. Day. D.E.A.R. stands for Drop Everything and Read and its purpose is to highlight the importance of making space for reading in your day.
In honor of Beverly Cleary and D.E.A.R. Day, I would like to share a new-ish tradition in our home. It is one that has changed our mornings and helped our days to start off peaceful. I call it Coffee and Books.
Make Every Day D.E.A.R. Day with Coffee and Books!
We all know how important it is to read aloud to our children daily. One needs only read this book to realize that reading is arguably the single best thing to do for your children’s future success in this world. I’ve made it a point to read to my children early and often, but let’s face it: sometimes reading aloud with children is not pleasant.
Take bedtime for example. My husband and I read to our children every night but some nights it feels more like a chore than something enjoyable. Sometimes kids are wild, or crabby, or over-tired, or melting down. Sometimes, I’m crabby or preoccupied or over-tired or melting down.
Sometimes I come downstairs after bedtime and feel guilty. I feel bad that I rushed, that I suggested a shorter book, that I let my thoughts travel elsewhere while my words were on autopilot. I vow to do better the next day.
Well, something sort of amazing happened this winter. My motivation was at an all-time low. Instead of waking up early and accomplishing all the things, I struggled to put my feet to the floor in the morning and do some of the things. Somewhere, in the midst of my battle with homeschool hibernation, our mornings evolved.
I don’t know if it was out of laziness or if it was an attempt to make myself feel better about homeschooling, but I started reading to my kids as soon as they entered the kitchen. I didn’t read from our current chapter book, I didn’t ask them to do their math first. In fact, I didn’t talk about our homeschool must-dos at all. Instead, armed with a strong cup of coffee, I picked up a great book and read aloud.
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Sometimes, we read heaps of great books.
Some days I would select books with a common theme.
This morning’s coffee and books: bees, bees, bees!
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Other days, they were randomly selected.
This morning’s #coffeeandbooks (…and caterpillars, and praying mantis egg cases) ?
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Reading aloud offers a host of benefits. For a homeschool mom, one benefit is the ability to cover virtually any subject. Have you been light on history this month? Reading aloud can fix that. Another perk is that all children, regardless of reading level, are exposed to the same content. This is wonderful for parents who are homeschooling a range of ages.
The other day, as I was reading this fantastic article about Beverly Cleary, it occurred to me that our family had stumbled into D.E.A.R. time through our morning Coffee and Books. Our Coffee and Books is our most peaceful time of day. The reading sparks fantastic conversations and learning. This ritual starts our morning off on the right foot and has made this family of bookworms smile.
We continue to read at bedtime, but I feel less pressure for it to go well because I know we had Coffee and Books earlier in the day. There is far less guilt at the end of the day and that is priceless.
I have been trying to remember to share our Coffee and Books on Instagram each day. Some days, I forget because my coffee intake was not adequate or I was distracted by life, but I am hoping to share them regularly on both Instagram and in our {Virtual} Family Book Club. I love to share what we are reading and I invite you to follow along and share what you are reading. Let’s share the book love!
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