It always seemed that there was a laundry basket, neglected, on the floor as the kids and I snuggled on the couch to lose ourselves in a book. The stories more interesting than the laundry. Socks and shirts are ever needing cleaned, folded, put away. But our heroes in the books needed rescuing, needed encouragement, needed the page turned. And the laundry stayed neglected and we were whisked away from the trivial.

I never regretted even one moment of the time we spent deep in a story. My children spent hours near me listening, looking at pictures or feeling my heartbeat. When they were little, I would nurse the baby and read to the older ones. Baby fell asleep and the older ones and I would walk with our friends in unknown and dangerous lands.

As they grew, we added crocheting or painting or drawing or colouring whilst I read. They would wonder away, around the couch, or upside down on the chair. Then when our friends were in a tough spot, we all stilled until the chapter ended.

Sometimes as the chapter ended, we had to find out what happened. So, we turned the page. I cannot tell you the number of days where we spent the space given us to help our friends find resolution, find redemption, find relationship. And laundry sometimes wasn’t the only thing ignored.

More than once, I forgot to get dinner started. We ate a little later than normal, but our nourishment wasn’t meat and veggies, but the words and emotions of our storied lives.

And I regret none of it.

My husband and I chose to homeschool. This fit so well with my addiction to stories and reading to my children. Perhaps a bit too well. There may have been a math assignment or two that went neglected a day longer than it should have. Still, I regret nothing when it comes to the hours we spent on the couch reading.

My children have grown and we don’t find ourselves lost together in a story. And I feel that I have failed my children in education, because we (as homeschoolers) never feel that we do enough. Yet, over and over again, my children show that those hours spent in pouring over and discussing what was happening to our fictional friends has guided them and educated them into the adults and adults-to-be that they have become.

Life and education aren’t about tests and scores or even grades and accolades.

It always is and ever will be about relationships.

The time will come when they will need grades and math and even put laundry away and make a meal. But, when we broke open a book and dove into another world, we entered into a holy communion.

When reading, every now and again, we stopped to take note of what was going on. Was this a good thing? How can it be redeemed? What is the author conveying in this scene? Any question that came up, we discussed, debated, deliberated.

A book is rarely a one-sided conversation.

Even when they were babies, I would read chapter books, my college books, any books. My babies simply loved being read to. The books we traveled with spanned time, space, fiction, science, math, poetry, history, classic literature, and so much more.

There are so many books, so little time.

I asked my children for their favourite books we read and their favourite memory from our read alouds. My favourite memory was holding them, leading them in discussions, reading to them. Being on the couch, close, and talking, deep. Nothing in the world can compare. Truly, life is richly lived with children and a good book.

All my children agree, reading together, being together, discussing the book together, living the experience together was the best use of the time and space we had. See a theme? We were together, bonding, experiencing, talking over a book, over ideas, over characters.

The time spent was intimate, holy.

At the end of every saga, we mourned our friends for their lives moved on and so must ours. But the stories stay with us and have an odd comfort and familiarity. My children’s favourite books that we read vary. It seems fantasy books win, which is interesting as fantasy books are my favourite as well. Here is a list of books that we loved reading as a family. Maybe some are your favourites as well.

• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
• The Magicians Nephew by C. S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
• Amigo by Byrd Baylor
• Edmond Went Far Away by Marin Bax
• Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Many Dr. Suess books.
• The Bible

And then life got complicated and we stopped sharing this time together. This was my greatest homeschooling mistake. And looking back, I now see how much they learned about history, science, math, language, music, politics, religion, philosophy, and the list goes on. No school, no curricula, no state mandates can effectively substitute opening a book with your children.

And I miss those close times on the couch with an adventure in our hands.

This year, we will open books more, discuss ideas more, and enjoy being together more. Babies do grow to our sorrow and when we blink, they move out. Before they all leave, before the raising of them becomes a memory, before calls replace reading on the couch for all of them, we will get lost in another world.

We will break open the Word and drink deep the Journey.