The Evolution of Story Time

One of my favorite parts of being a dad is story time, that fifteen to thirty minutes before bedtime when the kids climb up on my lap and I break out a “favorite” book to read. It has never really mattered what book(s) my children select, although there are definitely some children’s books I enjoy more than others, it is the fact that we get a few minutes to snuggle together and share the joy of a book, a story that we can all enjoy. As my children have gotten older; however, there has definitely been a “Story Time Evolution” and much of the magic has been lost.

Slowly but surely other “things” have managed to intrude on story time, from homework to meetings, from television to simple exhaustion (which affects both our children and their parents, rarely at the same time however). The biggest intrusion on story time though is my boy’s ability to read on their own. As my boys have started to read on their own, story time has become less about climbing up on dad’s lap (heck, my oldest can barely fit in my lap anymore) and listening to me read, and more about making sure the boys use this time to practice their own reading. My oldest son enjoys reading to his two year-old sister, my wife and I make him read to us, even as his little brother is working on his Braille letters and reading books of his own. When we can find the time for me to read to them, they want it to be something like Harry Potter rather than Going on a Bear Hunt.

Although I knew the time would come when my boys would no longer want me to read them stories, I can honestly say this is the thing I miss the most. I wish I could capture the magic of story time again, but I fear it is lost. It is another sign that my children are growing and although I can’t wait to see what kind of people they will grow up to be, I sure wish they wouldn’t grow up quite so fast. At least my little girl still wants me story time with me, at least this week. Who knows about next week though?