A Peaceful Change from the Toddler Whirlwind
My three-year-old has a short attention span. Surprise, surprise! We love to read books together but she tends to rush through them, always trying to turn the page before I’m done reading it. Even in the quiet time before bed she has energy to burn and so much to think about and talk about it can be hard for her to focus. A book with too much text does not go over well with her. She is at an odd time where most board books are a little too simple, but picture books are slightly too advanced. I love reading with my daughter, but it’s not a relaxing activity.
With my newborn, I have a captive audience. He loves hearing me talk and looking at my face. His attention is very focused. I think he could stare at one picture all day and be happy! So much to look at, so much to see.
The other day I grabbed a book of poems for children. There are four or five short poems to a page and several illustrations featuring small children doing small children things. Ava has never quite taken to this book (I think because there is very little page-turning.) But when I tried reading it to baby Will he was entranced. His eyes widened and he stared at me and the pictures. He kicked and smiled in happiness. What is this new and wonderful thing that we’re doing?
It is so rewarding being able to read to baby and really bond with him. Reading with big sis is special too, but in a different way. It’s a nice change to be able to settle down and not have someone bouncing all over you when you’re trying to read.
And reading to small babies is so important. It’s easy to think that it’s a pointless exercise, that they can’t understand the story or follow along with the pictures yet. They may be more interested in eating the book than reading it, but don’t let that deter you.
Reading helps inspire a love of books early on which is a wonderful habit to have. Reading introduces babies to sounds and words and fires up their growing brains. It’s great for language development and learning speech patterns. Most importantly, it’s a special time you spend with your child, showing them you care about them and love them.
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