My father read to me nightly throughout my childhood, and even when I was in my early teens. He's a firefighter, which meant he works 24 hours on, 48 off. So two nights out of three, whenever he wasn't on shift, he'd read me to sleep. This is my best memory of childhood.
It is SO important to read to your children and instill a love of reading in them. A child who loves to read can educate himself/ herself about so many things ... as long as your child never stops reading, he or she will never stop learning.
As a parent, I've tried to follow my father's excellent example and read to my son on a nightly basis... I was very consistent about it when he was younger, but now that he's eleven he usually prefers to read himself to sleep.
I miss reading aloud to my son, but I also try to keep in mind that it's a GOOD thing that he now wants to read books on his own. It means I have succeeded in instilling a love of reading in him.
~Sharon