The Language of Learning: 100+ Books

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One night Thomas and I were having really good, deep pillow talk. Those are some of my favorite moments in our marriage. Just talking about our day, asking how our jobs and friends are, listening and sharing our thoughts and feelings and discussing our opinions.

Thomas mentioned that he didn't want Lincoln growing up with us always on our phones. I think all of us are a little guilty of being plugged in, but his simple statement hit me hard. I am on my phone so much throughout the day. And it's hard.

As a stay at home mom there isn't a lot of adult interaction. I have lots of mom friends on various pages and boards online.99% of my time is spent talking to moms about our babies. Rashes, breastfeeding, pumps, diapers, cribs, toys, etc. Mom life! I love learning everything I can about these little humans.

While this is (semi) productive, it's not exactly healthy. Although I've found lots of local in-real-life friends through these pages, the time I was spending talking to them was a bit excessive. 

So to help my bad habit:

I've decided to take on a personal challenge: 

Read 100+ books to Lincoln


There is no deadline. I will sit and enjoy my lap baby while he is still little. At 6 months he is so interactive and the cutest little sponge. I want him to have memories of us reading, snuggling, and pouring over books. My love for books is so great and I want to share one of my favorite things with my sweet little boy.

When I was pregnant, I spent hours looking at thrift stores, discount stores, and used book stores for children's books. I knew our babies would outgrow the cute clothes. The toys would get lost, forgotten, broken and collect dust. But books are forever.

I want our books to be tattered, soft, worn and cherished. I want them to be covered in goldfish and milk. I want my children to love them so much that they want to take them everywhere. In a perfect world my children would keep them in perfect condition, but let's be honest here, kids are gross. Memories will be made and books can be replaced. 

I have already had a few reading sessions with Lincoln since I decided to take on this challenge and we are loving it! I have so many books to read to him. (Let's just say shopping for baby while pregnant is DANGEROUS)

After we are done with our personal library, we will go to our public library and attend story time or just gather books and read them there. I have a feeling our collection will grow as we discover the cute books the library has!

Sometimes, as mothers, we don't feel like we're doing a great job. In fact, we feel like we're failing. A lot! It's sad, but true. "If only I spent more time knitting him clothes and signing him up for pre-Mensa classes..." Okay, I'm kidding. But in reality, we're always working towards making our stay-at-home-mom lives a little bit better and more productive.

I challenge all of my mama friends to take on this challenge! Or any other challenge you'd like. I love goals and I love achieving them! I want to be the best example for my children and teach them the language of learning.

Love,
Thomas, Jenny and Lincoln

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