Stories.

One of my favorite rituals every day is reading stories before bed. It is a hush – stillness – for little bodies who never otherwise linger or fixate, except in sleep.

I admire my older sister who has, at any given time, dozens of library books – and every one of them gets read by the end of a week's time. I recently went to visit her after the birth of her fourth baby. She uses stories as a way to connect with her kids – when there is a meltdown, she turns to books. She sees being absorbed together in a story as one of the best ways to redirect and reconnect. Having just given birth, she asked me to take a load of books and her two older girls to the library to refresh. So we hefted the library book bags – literally full of more than 50 books and went to restock the supply with 50 more. I loved it.

Children who are focusing on a book make such a great faces.