“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” – Emilie Buchwald
It’s been just over a month now since my mom passed away. As I adjust to living with the grief and trying to continue with my everyday life as a wife and a mother, I think of her constantly. What I miss the most about her is her voice. My mother, Nancy, was born in Arkansas and raised in Texas.
She had the most beautiful loud southern accent, and boy, did she love to talk. After she met and married my dad, she moved to
Canada and had my brothers and I. Growing up north of the border, everyone used
to comment on her “cool Texas accent” filled with unusual words like “ya’ll”
and “reckon”. I never really noticed it because
she was my mom, and that’s the voice I heard all the time… it was normal to
me.
My mom loved to read and she loved to read aloud to us. I know that I inherited my passionate love of
books from her. It’s something we shared throughout her life. After my mom moved back to Texas later in life, I would send her all of my favourite reads from the year, prompting phone calls and emails at all hours with messages like this:
“Well I hope you’re happy that I’ve been up since 2:30 this morning
reading this darn Twilight book – just like I did with The Da Vinci Code when we
were in Paris. Shame on you – old people like me need their sleep!
LOL Love, Mom”
Now that I am a mom, I
cherish the time I take to read to my kids everyday. I hope that I am fostering the same love of reading that I was given. My 3 year old will not even consider going to
sleep without a story. Even on the
nights when we’ve already let him stay up past his bedtime, I still lay down in
his little boat bed and read him a book.
There is just something so relaxing and comforting about a parent’s voice. I want my boys to remember this
quality time that we are spending together.
In honour of her memory, I am sharing my 5 favourite books to read with my boys. I am a sucker for rhyming books with a rythmic story line:
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey
Rinker
Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett (this one even comes with
tickle monster mitts!)
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
My favourite part about all of these books is that they were all given to my children as gifts. They weren’t ones that I picked out but someone else did with my boys in mind. I’m sharing them with you today in hopes that you will pass your favourites on to your kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc. Our kids will outgrow their toys, but they won’t outgrow these stories. I still have my childhood copy of my Mom’s favourite “The Velveteen Rabbit” and my Dad’s favourite “The Polar Express”. Isn’t it wonderful how we love these books as much as our children do? Maybe it’s the memories we love and cherish the most. I miss you Mom.
Love to all,
Kiki
Leave a Reply