We’re about to have our first grandbaby- thank you, Jesus.  And what have I been gathering and searching for everywhere I go?  Books.   Never mind that we have BOXES of them packed and labeled, “baby books”, “toddler books”, “children’s books”, “middle school and YA,” as well as various adult categories!   I started opening the boxes, just to see what we should keep and what I could give away.  Well, the KEEP pile is not sharing with the give-away pile.

And, it has been so much fun reading through the oldies.  Some of these are from my own childhood, books that my parents read to me, and that I now hope to read to my grandchildren.   The pages are worn and some are torn.  But the memories are truly priceless.  The idea of creating new memories with a 4^th generation within these same pages is very special to me.

Do you remember THE BIGGEST BEAR by Lynd Ward?   The copyright date is 1952!   It starts off with, “Johnny Orchard lived on the farm farthest up the valley and closest to the woods.”  The illustrations are only in black and gray and they are beautifully detailed.  It’s the story of a boy, a bear, and farm life and it literally TAKES YOU BACK in time.  Isn’t it good for us to teach our kids a bit of history, even our own more recent history?   Even simple things like phones with cords and  potato chips that were delivered to your house in a can?

So, I’m thinking that as we “book time with our kids”, we can just REMEMBER.  Remember and seek out those books that were read to us by parents or grandparents.  Dig them out, find at your local book store or on Amazon, or call your mom to see if she knows where “that box” is.  You may be de-cluttering and taking a walk down memory lane at the same time!  Certainly, you’ll be spending some cherished time together, generation to generation, with the oldies but goodies from your own childhood.

Thank you for reading! Please join me each week as we share ideas about how to “BOOK TIME WITH OUR KIDS!”