If you have more than three children, you have probably heard it over and over (and thought of it a lot too): I need to make each child feel special.

We would agree with this concept. What we disagree with is how difficult we sometimes make it.

Sure, there are times for Daughter-Daddy Dances. (Kara was the proudest girl there because her daddy knew how to dance and had taken her to the ballroom for private lessons before the big day!)

There are times for “dinner and a movie” with Mom. There are times for day trips shopping or caving or hunting or crafting or, or, or.

But why wait for those “big days”? Why create this “it has to be big to make my child feel special” idea in your mind.

Sure…plan, do, run, have fun. But don’t neglect the daily ways that you can make your child feel special.

I will be sharing a few of those “regular” things in upcoming posts, starting with this one: Talking to your child alone is one of the best ways to make that child feel special.

When you carve out time (daily with any child, whenever possible!) to talk with one child alone, it builds a confidence in your child that you are always going to be there for them. It makes him feel more special to know that you will stop, stay home, be with him, talk, and nurture his heart in an ongoing manner than any big event. (But don’t skip those either!)

One way to do this with your littles is to sneak into his room after everybody’s in bed and take a snack and have an “everybody’s in bed talk.” (Snack optional!)

If he isn’t asleep yet, either slide in beside him and just talk…..ask questions. (Be sure they are open-ended ones; not yes and no ones!) Let him go on and on and on and on about something that is important to him.

Or if your child shares a bedroom, pull one out and take her into another room: “I thought since it was quiet around here, we could finally talk alone!”

Oh, and don’t forget mornings…these are also good “everybody’s asleep” talk times!

These “everybody’s asleep talks” will be something that your kids will remember forever. And nighttime is one of the best times to get a good peek into your child’s heart.

The post “Everybody’s Asleep” Talk Time appeared first on Character Ink.

”A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.” ~Lemony Snicket

Talking does not always have to be “free style” or just conversation. One amazing way I have “talked” to my kids through the years was through a daily story time.

For twenty-five years, “more often than not,” I had a one to three hour story time with my kids who were story time age—and it was an amazing way to tie heart strings and “talk.”

When I had several small children, we would get the babies to sleep then cuddle in Mommy’s bed and read for one to two hours, then drift off for afternoon naps (including Mom!). It was blissful.

My first reaction to that is “How did I ever find time for that nearly every weekday afternoon?” And my answer is that I found the time because it was a priority to me.

We find the time for everything that is truly important to us. (And I found the time for the nap because it was essential during the fourteen out of seventeen years that I was nursing and/or pregnant!) I stayed home most days and just invested in my kids and home—and I don’t regret it at all!

Obviously, story time does not have to be just before naps. However, just like anything else we want to do, if it is important enough to us, we will put it somewhere in our schedule where it will for sure get done.

For us, this meant attaching whatever we wanted to add to our schedules to something that was already in our schedule. (Another Gregg Harris tip from long ago!) For me, this meant attaching story time to just after lunch—right before naps. There in that spot for twentyf-five years it got done “more often than not.”

Reading aloud from picture books, Bible story books, chapter books, and nature books gave my children a huge background of experience to bring to their other subjects and learning.

And it was also a major springboard for two other things I highly recommend: (1) Discussion and (2) Little tidbits that become your family’s own special things.

For example, to this day, my older kids know exactly which book I am talking about when I say, “I knew there was another one” (Mouse House). They know exactly which story I’m referring to when I say, “Kara, Kara, Kara…your name is Kara, isn’t it?”

These things are ours. They belong to the Reish family. They might seem small to other people, but to us, they make us, us.

The post 52 Weeks of Talking To Our Kids: Story Time appeared first on Character Ink.