With two little ones at home, I always worry when things are too quiet in my house. A minute of peace leads to panic when I see the art drawer emptied, the bathroom cabinets opened, or all of the bedroom doors closed, and my kids are nowhere in sight. Last night, as I was chatting on the phone and cooking dinner, I realized my house was eerily quiet. I immediately hung up with my girlfriend and ran to the bedroom, where my kiddos were behind a closed door. I approached cautiously and cracked open the door to listen.
I heard my daughter say, “Did you brush your teeth? Is your water bottle full? Did you put your homework away? Take your medicine. It’s time to read.” To each question, my toddler replied, “Yup” and “Thank you, Mommy”. I laughed, hearing my “mommy” voice come out of my daughter’s mouth.
“Time to settle down. You can turn the pages,” she instructed. My toddler giggled and snuggled under the comforter. I watched as she read “Little Penguin and the Lollipop” to her brother. She created a grumpy voice as she read about the unhappy seagull, and she made silly faces while performing all of the things that Little Penguin did to try to make his friend happy again. All the time, my toddler mimicked her and mirrored her every move. By the end they were shouting so loud and laughing so hard, I couldn’t help but laugh along with them. Those are the moments I live for, as a parent. To see my daughter taking the time to “play house” and mimic our bedtime routine with her brother, shows me I must be getting it right at least some of the time!
With the chaos of school, activities, play dates, and work, our family uses our bedtime routine to reconnect, wind down, and enjoy one another. We definitely have our favorite books as part of our collection, but many we are reading for the first time. HarperCollins children’s books are great for helping us create our picture perfect storytime at home. Their books aimed at children ages 2-6 years old are silly and fun with beautiful illustrations to help little ones develop a love of reading and books. Their website even offers free activities and guides that go along with the themes and characters of their books, to expand learning and fun beyond storytime.
I’m glad my kids value our bedtime routine and our family storytime every night. I know reading together, with my silly voices and weird faces, won’t last forever. But for now, we can end our busy days laughing and enjoying one another in our own picture perfect storytime.
We held a Picture Perfect Storytime at BounceU of Troy and invited Macaroni Kid Birmingham-Troy subscribers. The preschoolers bounced, read “Little Penguin and the Lollipop” and “In the Middle of Fall”, and had fun with gifts and activities from HarperCollins. Everyone had a blast and left excited to pick up new HarperCollins children’s books for their collections.
If you’re looking for a great new book for your preschooler, check out the books and storytime tips at https://www.harpercollins.com/childrens/storytime.
I received books, promotional items, and compensation for the purpose of this honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
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