Book It: Story Time

It's hard, as adults, to think about life's luxuries and not get envious of those tooling around in flashy cars, sporting their bling and dropping dollars on five-star dinners and designer duds.

It's comforting to know that your kids are still at the age when none of that matters -- all they care about is you, a good hug and a tattered blanket they've had since they came home from the hospital.

This indulgence doesn't come with a price tag, and it's a luxury you don't have to put down a second mortgage to enjoy.

Today, read to your kids.

You won't get much further with the book on your nightstand, but that can be an indulgence for another day. Plus, we know you love the reaction you get when you read in all those funny voices and when you have your little ones help you pronounce those "big-kid words."

If that's not all, the act of reading a good children's book -- classics such as Charlotte's Web or Where the Red Fern Grows are standards -- offers big-time benefits you just don't get with a Rolex or a pair of diamond studs (which, ugh, depreciate in value the minute you buy them).

• It improves language and speech development as well as vocabulary and pronunciation.
• It increases attention span -- which, as a result of the MTV generation, is getting shorter and shorter -- and it fosters creativity and imaginative thinking.
• It prepares children for school. For those entering preschool or kindergarten, the act of listening to what someone else is saying will help them in structured situations such as storytelling and focusing on one central person in the classroom.
• It offers bonding experiences between the parent and child because those moments will be perceived as "our time."
• It helps develop a routine for children. If reading is done before bedtime, for instance, it makes for an easier time falling asleep.
• It promotes a lifelong love of reading. As children who've been consistently read to get older, they are more likely to read on their own.
  

Who needs bling when there are books? Really.