As Jon and Julia Lamb’s two children have grown, their family reading routine has changed – but its importance has held steady.
“Some of the funniest memories, the things I look back on – it almost always happened during our reading time together,” Julia said. “Whether it was that we were laughing at something that was part of the book or not. A lot of days, that was the only time when it was quiet, when it was just the four of us, when there were no TVs, or iPads, or other people. And that was really our time that we were just listening to each other.”
When Lois, 10, and Jack, 8, were in their youngest years, the routine was to read together before bed each night. These days, it’s a mix of independent reading and reading with a parent. When the kids read on their own, Julia keeps the conversation open, asking questions about what they’re reading and what they think of it.
“I always want to touch base to make sure we’re talking about the book, to make sure they’re not doing that thing that you sometimes do when you read, when you’re reading the words, but you’re not really taking it in,” she said.
And they still use reading time as a way to create calm amid the distractions of daily life.
“There are times when my husband and I will say, ‘OK, everything off. We need a reset –TV’s off, Alexa’s off, everything’s off,’” Julia said. “He and I get our books, and the kids get their books, and we just sit together and read. At first, they don’t want to do it. But then once we’re all in it, nobody wants to stop. The timer goes off, and everybody is still sitting there and enjoying it.”
That enjoyment is especially meaningful to Julia and Jon after seeing Lois, who has dyslexia, initially struggle to learn to read.
“She was having a lot of trouble with it, and she was our oldest, so we didn’t really know what to expect,” Julia said. “But for the first time, reading became this stressful thing in our life. There were a lot of – in full transparency – tears around reading, and it was just such a battle. It took me so much by surprise, because it was always such an enjoyable thing. But now that my daughter is getting her help, and she’s reading more, and she loves it so much, it just gives me a whole new appreciation for reading, and not taking it for granted.”
Julia encourages Lois and Jack to explore new books when they visit the library. While both kids are into graphic novels, there isn’t much overlap in their choices beyond that – and that’s part of why the library is a regular part of their routine.
“That’s why the library is so great, to just go and take out a bunch of different types of books,” Julia said. “Some are going to be hits, and some are going to be misses, but you just need one hit to really get them to dive in and want to keep going.”
And despite differing book choices, reading is still a connection point for the two siblings.
“Sometimes we’ll come up to put them to bed, and they’ll both be in Jack’s room, and Lois will be reading to him,” Julia said. “It’s a big deal on so many levels – that she’s able to do that; and he can read better, just because he doesn’t have the same challenges as her, and so it’s him being patient, listening to her try, and then her being a good big sister and reading to him.”
Long into the future, Julia hopes reading’s role in their family continues to evolve while remaining a uniting force. She often swaps book recommendations with her own mom, and Jon with his.
“I hope that we get to the point when they’re older that we can still share reading together, but just in a different form,” she said. “We might not be physically together, but we’re still able to share reading the same book at the same time, or referring books to each other.”
But for now, she’s enjoying the routine just as it is.
“It really is such a dream to go into their rooms at bedtime, and to see both of them with their little reading lights on,” she said.