Unwrapping the Gift of Reading

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
~from Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss

Today each of my girls is getting a gift wrapped up in pretty paper and a bow. Inside each package is a book. The titles of each book is not what is significant. It is what the book will do. One book will take a daughter to a far off island to swim with dolphins. One book will take a daughter to a castle with Kings, Queens and Princesses. One book will keep a daughter right here in her home thinking of the love she shares with her daddy.

When I was a little girl I was given a very important gift from my mom and dad. It was the gift of reading. I can still remember countless trips to the library. We did not travel when I was a child. But because of the books that I had access to, I didn't need to. I was able to experience so many adventures in the books that I read.

Parenthood has never been easy. We don't have all the answers. In fact, we still have a 4 year old that loves to come in the middle of the night into the middle of our bed. But we have given our girls a gift, too. Every night we snuggle into their beds with a book. We finish each night with a story and prayers before tucking them in and shutting off the light.

Today we are celebrating Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' Birthday. We will read and draw and eat some treats. Memories will be made. The girls will probably forget which book they were given today. We will read the books and they will be added to our home library. My hope is that they will always be excited about their books and the adventures that they take them on.


I am unwrapping the gift of reading today with Emily at Chatting at the Sky. Do you have a gift to unwrap today? Go to Chatting at the Sky and read about all of the other amazing gifts.