I love books. I know I’ve said this before. There is just something wonderful about the feel of a bound book in my hands – the pages filled with words, stories, information, even photographs.

Saturday afternoon at the library is such a joy. Today, the kids were napping, and I snuck away to our local branch. I wandered up and down the aisles. I have my regulars – I’m a big fan of Dewey decimals 645 to the mid-700s – lots of sewing and interior design. I also like to peruse the New Books – just to see what’s popped up on the shelves since my last visit. Sometimes I hit the SciFi section if I’m looking for something for Husband. And I always end with a trip through the kids’ section to find some new books for the Boy and Baby Girl.

Although, to be honest, I don’t get as many books for Baby Girl as I did for the Boy when he was little. Back then, I seemed to have all day to sit around and read Moo, Baa, La La La eight hundred fifty-seven times. But with two kids, it just doesn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, Baby Girl LOVES books. She crawls over to her book basket, pulls them out, holds them up to me, and pats her chest with a huge grin to signal “Please!” Books make her as happy as they do me. But it just feels like we’ll never read as much as we did with the Boy.

As for me and my books, I also don’t seem to read them as much as I’d like. I get 5 minutes here and there to relax by myself, but I often choose Facebook or Pinterest instead. But I’ve realized, when I’m reading a book, especially just before bed, I fall asleep faster and seem to sleep more deeply. No scientific findings to back this up, but I think I am just more relaxed and ready for good sleep.

So I’ve decided to be more purposeful with reading. Instead of wishing I had time to read more, I’m going to make time to read more. In the mornings, before we take the Boy to preschool or before Baby Girl takes a nap, we’re going to all sit in my rocking chair and read books together. Even if it’s just 10 minutes (although I’d like it to be 20), it’s a set time I KNOW we are together reading.

And at night, I’m going to start winding down early. I’m going to take my bath earlier and spend my day’s last few minutes (at least 10, preferably 20) reading.

And that’s the beauty of practice as I was talking about it yesterday. Each day is a new day. If we don’t ace it one day, there’s always tomorrow to try again.

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This post is part of a 31 Day series about improving my days by being more PURPOSEFUL.

You can read more about it here. You can find all the posts in this series here.