Audio Books (See Also: How a Stay-At-Home-Mom Stays Sane)

If you're at home with your kids during the day (or even if it's just on the weekends), and you're anything like me, you probably don't like having the T.V. on much, if at all. My sister and I have frequently discussed the dilemma of this, because often the T.V. is the closest thing to adult contact we get during the long, lonely weekdays. Especially during the winter when there's not a whole lot you can go do to get out of the house.

Solution? Go visit your local library and pick up some audio books! It may not be quite the window to the outside world you're used to with the T.V., but it's something to keep you company, it won't put your children into a zombie-like trance (like the T.V. does to my son), and your children will probably enjoy it! Not to mention, it can help improve their literacy skills (much more than T.V. can).

Another perk of audio books? I rarely have time to sit down and just read lately it seems. But with audio books I can listen while I cook, clean the kitchen, fold the laundry, or play on the floor with my son. It's a great way for me to catch up on some of the reading I've been wanting to do.

There are many options when it comes to finding audio books. There are MP3s, CDs, and cassettes. Not many people still have cassette players, but if you do, I've found that there's quite a bit more selection to choose from at the library. Also, podcasts are an option. I like to listen to podcasts from Just One More Book and Children's Book Radio. As well as podcasts from my church, and Mars Hill.

In the photo above, you can see what we've been listening to lately around here. The Phantom Tollbooth and Mama Don't Allow are from the library. Just So Stories and The Story Tree were Christmas gifts from Isaac's Gramma and PaPa.

My son is only six months old, so he only has a very limited appreciation (if any) of audio books, but I still pick up audio CDs of picture books and JV fiction. Partly because I enjoy hearing those too!

The T.V. stays off during the day at our house for the most part (football on the weekends is the big exception). We do the majority of our T.V. watching in the evening, after our son is asleep (thank you, DVR). We aren't totally anti-T.V., but we don't really want our son watching a ton of it. Especially not before he turns two-years-old.

So go ahead, dust off that old boom-box (check out my huge one in the photo above) and turn off Dr. Phil. You'll be glad you did!

Oh, and let me know what some of your favorite audio books are!