The Reser Reading Regimen looked a little different in 2025. When 2024 concluded, Sloan was released to read on her own. She was no longer bound to the two-story-per-night structure she thrived at for multiple years. Instead of sitting at my side on the couch, she curled up in her bed and explored chapter books such as Harry Potter and the Boxcar Children.

However, while my maturing daughter surrendered her seat on the right side of the couch, my little boy remained on the left. But that wasn’t the only change.

Not only did our reading crew get smaller but our completed book output did as well. In 2025, Beau and I read 285 books. We were a far cry from the 600 books we read as a family in 2024. To contextualize it even more on an apples to apples level, we fell well short of the 500 books Sloan read during her kindergarten year.

Beau holds the 284th and 285th books he read in 2025. We read these final books of the year at the Spokane Public Library (Central branch) in downtown Spokane.

So what gave in 2025? Well, a couple things. For starters, the adage that the attention span of boys is less than girls is no joke. Reading two books to Beau a night proved difficult when many times he would be dancing around the living room before we even made it through the first one. During some of the more manic evenings, we stopped after the initial story. But the real game changer came when Beau started kindergarten. Sid and I were not prepared for the amount of homework our 5-year-old son was assigned. By the time we finished his nightly worksheets, name-writing exercises, and sight word practice none of us—Beau included—had the stamina/patience for a book.

In 2025, we had many nights when we just read a single book. Attention spans of 5-year-old boys can be short.

For someone like me who thrives with goals and improvement, our final book total for 2025 is a little disappointing. At the same time, I need to give Beau and myself a little grace. Believe it or not, some perspective goes a long way. The good things from last year’s reading experience include…

A photo of me reading to Beau and his friends, Noble and Aria, in 2025.

– Many “library dates” at the county and city branches. Beau and I sustained our reading supply by going to the library and checking out books. Besides just choosing books, the library was a place where Beau could do crafts, build on the Lego table, and play with other kids. For me, I was able to simultaneously pick out books for my own reading.

– Plenty of quality time for the two of us. Although there were nights when Beau was off the rails, we also enjoyed many other evenings when Beau was either completely engaged or perfectly worn out from the day’s activities. During those instances when Beau sat/laid on me at perfect attention, I relished every moment.

– Beau learned to read…to an extent! Since starting kindergarten, Beau’s teacher has done a masterful job teaching him the basics. By the time October arrived, Beau was helping me read books as he sounded out a lot of the words (it was so cute!).

We had many library dates in 2025. This is a photo of Beau relaxing on one of the chairs at the Spokane Valley County Library after reading a couple books.

With the arrival of 2026, I have two goals for Beau. Now that he has his own personal benchmark (285 books), I want him to surpass it. A goal of 300 books seems realistic. For the second goal, I want to see him continue to progress when it comes to reading. Hopefully by this time next year, he will be reading picture books with little assistance from me. In the meantime, if you have any book suggestions (for Beau or me), please let us know! Don’t Blink.