The Most Valued Gift We Received at Our Baby Shower

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

When I was pregnant with our son, my husband’s family and my family each threw a baby shower for us. Prior to the shower, I had done all the research and registered for all the things I thought we would need and/or want when little babe arrived.

We received so many nice gifts at those showers that we have used, loved and cherished. However, there is one gift we received that we continue to love and use every day with our little man. That gift was not clothes, blankets, bottles, diapers or any other necessity that you might think of. No, that gift was…. Books! It has been the most valuable gift that we received.

At both showers, our family asked that each guest bring a book for our little babe instead of buying a greeting card. This was the best idea! Most greeting cards tend to sit in a box for years and eventually get tossed in the trash without a second look. Instead, each guest wrote a little note in the book just like they would have in a card. Now every time we open a book to read it to him, we are reminded of who was at our shower and bought this precious gift for us.

Since we received so many books at our shower, our son instantly had his own personal library. We started a bedtime routine when he was an infant where we would read a few books to him every night. I would guess that we have maybe only missed a handful of nights in his 3 years of life. Each night, he usually picks out 4 to 6 books that we will read prior to bed. It is our favorite time of day, for us, as parents, and for him. He is usually begging us to read “just one more”.

An article on all4kids.org called, “The Importance of Reading to Your Children” states that reading to your child starting at a very early age can have multiple benefits, they include;

1. Supported cognitive development
2. Improved language skills
3. Improved academic success
4. A special bond with your child
5. Increased concentration and discipline
6. Improved imagination and creativity
7. Cultivate a lifelong love of reading

I find this list to be very truthful. Our son already presents with so many of these qualities. He has a large vocabulary and is very articulate for his age. Strangers often think he is much older than his actual age. Also, his attention span amazes me daily. He can spend an inordinate amount of time focused on 1 task like looking at books, coloring, or building something. And he loves books!!! I often find him tucked away somewhere just looking at a book by himself. As I type this, he is in his room “reading” a book prior to his nap. He likes to take a book into bed with him at naptime and he looks at it until he is tired. I am hopeful that this period of quiet time will continue even after he drops his nap.

Even if you do not have a large selection of books to read at home, you can still begin reading to your child every day. A free membership to your local public library gains you access to 1000s of books without costing you a penny. Although we have a large library at home, our son still loves to check out library books and attend the pre-school story time at our local library once a week. We love this not only for the reading but also for socialization. Another program that local public libraries offer is the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. This is a great program to encourage reading in your house and the program offers prizes along the way as incentive to read more books. We recently started this program and our son loves tracking his progress.

If you do not have a daily devoted story time with your young child, I encourage you to start. It is never too late and I believe it is something that you will not regret. Looking back, you will all cherish those precious moments together as a family.

I hope you found this post helpful! I would love to know your thoughts. Leave me a message in the comments or connect with me on social media.

Please follow and like us: