For the Love of Reading by Dina Ramon


Photo credit: Barbie.com

I love to tell my daughter how when she was in my tummy I would read to her. So anxious to be an ‘older mommy’ and prepared for her arrival, I would read aloud from Dr. Seuss alone in a quiet room so she would get to know the sound of my voice; plus I probably read somewhere that reading to your unborn child gives him/her a boost on the intelligence scale. Through her toddler and preschool years we shared lots of stories; from old favorites like The Big Red Barn through her ‘Dora the Explorer” and Barbie and fairies stages.  

Photo credit: Barnes & Noble

Image credit: Bean Bag Boss

She always enjoyed going to the bookstore or the library. I still remember the first time when she read a story to me instead of the other way around. She was in kindergarten and I was so immensely proud of her I could barely sit still for the story. From then on she usually read to me but we also often took turns reading to each other. In early elementary grades when daily reading became mandatory homework, I often had to remind her to get in her 20-30 minutes. Even though she enjoyed reading, she found it challenging to fit that in as she was still making the adjustment to a full-time school schedule. But little by little, she read more independently and I had to remind her less. These days she reads on her own, and often. She can’t get enough of books and she gets through them quickly. She loves to talk about the books she reads and often goes for books that her school friends recommend. She even has her favorite places to read, most notably her pink Bean Bag Boss chair by her window. 

I love to watch her sitting quietly, focused on her book and looking comfortable when she doesn’t know I am looking. Sometimes I just stare at her until my eyes well up with tears; the same tears of joy that I have experienced for 8 ½ years as her mom.  Sometimes the progression of something special happens so gradually that we don’t see how it happened until a pivotal moment lays it all out in front of us. When I watch my daughter reading to herself I can’t help but think back to reading Dr. Seuss to my tummy and everything leading up to where she is now makes sense.

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  1. 2 Responses to “For the Love of Reading by Dina Ramon”

  2. Aww…I love this! Reading is one of the greatest gifts we can pass on to our kids. It always makes me a little sad when I hear a parent saying they don’t like to read, so they don’t read to their kids. What great bonding time you are missing when you have that attitude.

    By Melissa Swedoski on May 9, 2013

  3. I love to read and that big pink bean bag is calling me!! It saddens me that my son has a reading disorder because he abhors reading and views it almost as a punishment. I am a HUGE advocate for reading and have books sprawled on my bed as well as beside my bed. I had envisioned sitting with my son one day animatedly reading book after book to him. Alas, my dream will never come to fruition. But I will continue to be a role model for him through my own love of reading…

    By Cara Meyers on May 10, 2013