One of my very favorite parts of being a dad is that I get to read books I would be reading anyway, and I get to read them aloud and experience them as my kids are experiencing them. What a gift! And how glad I am that I saved Harry Potter until now, until I could read it with my eight-year-old daughter. Until she would love it just as much as (or even more than) I would.
There are many parts of being a dad I have struggled with. This is one of the few I haven’t. I love reading to our kids. Love it. Which is why this recent post by David Mathis was both encouraging to me but also instructive for how I should read aloud to our kids. This was the best part of it.
Perhaps my main piece of counsel would be to read with energy. When Dad and Mom put more into it, the whole family gets more out of it. Even after a long day, it’s worth pushing yourself to not just go through the motions and read monotone. Put energy into it. Pour in more enthusiasm than you first think is needed. Read with color and warmth. Do voices, if you’re that type. Pursue contagious joy, not infectious boredom. You are the teacher, not the book. The book is your prop, your medium, your context for relationship with your children, and your opportunity to invest in them, their maturity, and their personality.
Desiring God
Praise God for Johannes Gutenberg and that we get to live in a world where books are so easily accessible and so easy to share with our children.