Some of the times I’ve felt most connected with my kids–since they were very, very small–have been enjoying books together. Grant it, this was often right before naptime. So there could have been good vibes all around. But there was something about their warm heads smelling of baby shampoo…and boy sweat. My kids sweat a lot. Maybe it’s because they were so rowdy that I loved this time when we were at last not moving or wiggling as much. My daughter was the only one who was much of a cuddler, so finally, we were feeling connected. At one point I calculated we were reading about 45 minutes a day.

And I know I’m not the only mom amazed by the steel trap that is a child’s mind. Before my son could read, he could “read” me, pretty much verbatim, the story of David and Goliath we’d read over. And over. And over in his children’s Bible.

That’s the thing about reading together, right? Reading, in its own way, catechizes our kids. We’re connecting building their brains and their character with a relationship. Over and over, we’re lining their minds with thoughts that form worldviews.