Mir writes a great piece over at Maya's Mom discussing the importance of reading to your children, especially as they get older and life gets busier. We have all heard by now the many advantages of reading aloud to children, including a bigger vocabulary and higher self-esteem, but Mir points to the particular balm reading provides the modern harried family.
Reading is a single-modality activity. You could technically talk on the phone and work on the computer while reading, I suppose, but reading encourages a focus and modulation of activity that can be soothing for the whole gang. Curl up on the couch and try on those silly voices. It really is fun and relaxing.
Reading can be a better teacher than a parental lecture. Picking books that cover tough issues is a clever way of getting the message across, without the glazed eyes. I have a book about appropriate touch that suggests ways for young children to speak up if anyone makes them uncomfortable. And it's a much more effective way to explain a tough topic to the five year olds, then diagrams and a baby-size mace bottle.
But the best reason I've found to read to your kids is that there is a lovely mutual delight in sharing stories we knew as kids. I read "Ira Sleeps Over" (a late 70s gem) to my daughters the other day and we all laughed and connected and our 33 year age difference melted away.
