Toddlers and Story Telling

My two year old son starts many of our car conversations with "tell me a story" or "tell a once upon a time". These are such important times for us. My husband and I have been telling stories to my son since he was a newborn (before actuallyJ) and he has the most amazing listening skills. He loves to cuddle and enjoy quiet time with mom and dad with either a good book or a good made up story. The listens so intently that days or weeks later he will ask me to tell him the same story, that I have no memory of. These are some of my most precious memories of my family time over the past few years, and I really think this "quite time" that we all share several times daily has helped to build the strong bond that we have. Recently though, I have tried to convince my son to tell me a story. He always says that he doesn't know how and then asks me to continue. Well finally we began this morning with a small story from my 27month old son. It was a short story that involved a horse, cow and a parade. I was soo proud. His story had a beginning a middle and an end, this is more than many middle school children do. It made me realize the power of the podcast. There are so many children in schools today that lack that time with their parents that maybe don't know what it is like to hear a good story. Now I am not for a moment suggesting that a story told on a podcast listened to on a set of headphones can replace quiet time with a parent. But perhaps some quiet time in a classroom, sitting in a bean bag chair in the corner can bread a love of storytelling for a child that otherwise wouldn't have that opportunity.