A little big for my lap, but never too old!!
My big boy comes home today!! We have missed him so much.
When I wrote about reading more last month a few of you suggested that you schedule reading times WITH your older kids where you both read your own books. I thought this was a genius idea!! A win-win for new readers and old readers alike.
Bedtime Lasts Forever
Bedtime in our house is always quite the process. We first get Birch to sleep (after bath, nursing, stories, songs) and then we work on Mazen. He has always been a “give an inch take a mile” kinda boy, so bedtime can sometimes take a loooong time. “One more book. Scratch my back. I need water. I need a snack. Another book please. One more kiss.” It’s a sweet time of day, so I think that’s why so many parents have trouble with the final kiss goodnight. Mazen has also never loved settling down to sleep, and I think that’s because he really doesn’t like being alone! (I’m realizing this is a big difference between Mazen and Birch’s personalities – extravert v. introvert? But that’s for another post!)
Twilight Time
While I obviously love spending time with my child, by bedtime I’m also looking forward to some end-of-the-day relaxing. Twilight Time is the solution. After I read one book to Mazen, he picks another book to read on his own and I start reading my Kindle. We brainstormed names together and came up with Twilight Time. We read next to one another for about 10 minutes and then I say goodnight.
Twilight Time is magical for several reasons:
- We are still together but quiet
- It helps M settle down (instead of wanting tickle fights)
- I get to start my adult time but still keep him company
- I’m modeling good reading behavior and he’s practicing his own reading
New Things Take Time
My spirited child does not like changes to routine, so I know I’m going to have to be consistent with this to make it a habit for us both. My hope is that we both get better at reading and bedtime has an easier transition to a hard end point. We’ve only done it a handful of times, but I’m looking forward to more. I wanted to start this habit at bedtime because it’s a natural fit for solo reading, but I hope eventually we can sit side by side on the couch during the day and read too.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
My parents never read with or for me – they had it easy haha, I was a bookworm all by myself! 😛
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
KathEats says
That’s great – self starter!
Amy says
But it’s also sad because some of my favorite childhood memories are snuggling with my Daddy while he read to us before bed. He read us the Little House on the Prairie series, the Chronicles of Narnia, and lots of other classics.
Tonya says
That is really clever! I love that idea! I can see how reading the words themselves in silence will start to tire those little eyes and mind and they’ll just drift right off!
Shana Powell says
We have a book called Bunny’s Book Club and my 4 year old daughter has been asking to go to the library and have her own book club. I think I’m going to turn it into an occasion and let her pick the book, pick the snacks, and host a book club for us. She’s also been asking to stay up past her bedtime, which we now allow as long as she’s in bed reading until she’s sleepy. She’s been doing (surprisingly!) great with that.
KathEats says
Love the book club idea!
Brooke says
I update love Bieber but want a more gentle, soft light for my son to read to. Any recommendations on
Ani says
My husband reads to the kids every night. We were really good about it with my son, and then fell out of the habit with my daughter. Though for the last few months, my husband has been all over it. He does a small, board book for my daughter, who’s four. And then with my son he reads a chapter book, one chapter a night. It’s been amazing, and something they really look forward to. Now, if only we could start earlier! Last night the reading went until 10:00pm!
KathEats says
That’s great! I think we are on the verge of chapter books and I look forward to that!
Allison says
My husband read to our kids every night through the infant/toddler/single digit years . Since he was at work all day while I was at home, it was like his time to bond with them AND give me a break. I specifically remember all the Chronicles of Narnia books and the entire Harry Potter series were favs . . . Now that everyone is a teenager or twenty something we’ve got 1 who still loves to read, 1 who is the math/science type and can’t sit still long enough to read and 1 who literally said to me yesterday “why did the school give me summer reading. I already know how to read.” So she’s def not a fan. Nature trumps nurture yet again 🙂
Kelly A Haag says
Twilight time is a great idea and something I could start with my 6 year old, who sounds a bit like yours. Also so amazing how different two children can be. We have a 5 year span between our kids also–watch out when Birchie starts walking/running!!
KathEats says
Life’s about to be rocked!
Polly says
One of my very favorite childhood memories is of my mom reading out loud to me and my siblings at bed time. She read to us long after we were old enough to read ourselves and I continued the tradition with my own kids. It was seriously one of the things I was most excited about when I had children, to be able to share with them the books I loved so much. We read the Little House on the Prairie series. the Wizard of Oz books, the Betsy-Tacy series, the Mary Poppins books, everything by E. Nesbit, Anne of Green Gables, and much more. I read the entire Harry Potter series out loud to my youngest. He was ten when we finished! The only tip I have is to visit the public library often and check out lots of books. The librarian can help Mazen select books that will interest him.
Angie says
With all of our kids as they’ve gotten older and become better readers, we start picking books that are too challenging (both reading ability and sometimes emotionally) and read then together alternating pages (we read a page, then the child reads a page). This is the way we have introduced Harry Potter (and other) books to our kids, and we gradually move on to the next in the series when we think they are emotionally ready. Our 8-year-old has made it through HP Book 4 this way and has gone back and reread all of them on his own after finishing with us.
JennieM says
During summer break in the elementary school years, after lunch my kids were required to have reading time. Started out as 20 minutes for kindergarten, then progressed to 1 hour by the end of elementary school. Sometimes if I didn’t get us to the library in time, word find or crosswords would substitute. It kept up their reading skills and gave me some quiet time too. 🙂 I now have one reader and one who doesn’t care for it.
Brittney says
I love that you call Mazen “spirited”! He is and with that comes a lot of energy- which isn’t a bad thing! I’m a play therapist and when parents change the adjectives they use to describe their kids it helps them view their behavior differently- I love the reading together too!
KathEats says
I got the term from this book which was a huge help to me!! (I’m sure you have read it/seen it before.)
Kimberly Yandell says
That a cute idea! Our kids sound similar, smart and ‘spirited’ – right down to loving tickle fights before bed. I’ll try this with you!
Taryn says
Reading is such a HUGE thing in our house. We have 2 kids entering 1st and 3rd grades this fall. Our 3rd grader is an avid reader, and it is his “go-to” when he is bored and needs something to fill time. It seemed to just “click” last year, and now he goes through books so quickly! Our younger one can’t read a ton on her own yet, but loves looking at picture books. We also do a ton of read-alouds in our house. At any given time, there is a chapter book for each parent in each kid’s bedroom (one that Daddy is reading to them and one that Mommy is reading to them). We also have a family read-aloud chapter book going at all times. Even when they are old enough to read on their own, I think they still love being read to. My mom always did that with us, and I have amazing memories of laying in bed at night and my mom reading to us (and usually falling asleep)!
Michelle says
This is the sweetest ritual you’ve started. Definitely filing away for later! Birch seems like the happiest, most outgoing baby! What makes you think he’s an introvert? Just asking because I think my little might be too. She is really shy, and I’m not sure if it’s a socialization thing, or just how she was born!
KathEats says
Because he’s ok being by himself for a bit. (Whereas Mazen could not be put down or left alone for a second.)
Valerie B says
Take a look at the Magic Treehouse series. They are really interesting and our 6 1/2 year old son loves them. They have a picture every few pages so we found it is a good transition from picture books to chapter books. We read a few chapters a night. We also recently went on a long car trip and downloaded them from the library. It kept him enthralled in the car and we didn’t have any arguments about needing screen time while we were driving.
Liz says
My husband and I take turns putting our kids to bed every night, and we always read to them. They are less than two years apart, so now that they are out of the toddler years we are able to read to both of them at the same time and put them both to bed at the same time. We’ve just started getting into chapter books like Mercy Watson, and the Magic Treehouse series, they are loving it! I can’t wait to read Harry Potter and Narnia and other classics to them too.
Alexandria Hardy says
My 2 year old peeked over my shoulder while I was reading this, saw your picture, and said “I like that face!” 😀 As far as reading goes, we read to our 2 boys (5 & 2) before nap/QT and bedtime every day, and my 5 year old is OBSESSED with audiobooks. He listens to them during his QT (introvert over here) – I think they remind him of Stories Podcast, which we also love. When Mazen starts to read chapter books, I highly recommend The Magic Treehouse, A-Z Mysteries, and Nate the Great series – all big hits at our house! I love the parallel reading idea as I am a huge reader but typically read at night, when the kids are in bed. Maybe we will incorporate that into our routine come fall/school time. Enjoy getting your big boy back tomorrow, I am sure he is excited to share his advventures!
KathEats says
Aww that’s cute!!
Rita says
We recently started with chapter books. I know you didn’t ask for suggestions, but our faves are the Mercy Watson books (suuuper short chapters, funny, lots of pictures), the Sophie Mouse books (very sweet, nothing scary, many pictures), and the Magic Treehouse series (chapters are a bit longer, a picture every few pages, and some mildly scary adventure). He can’t read yet, but we read these too him and he eats them up. As a bonus, Mercy Watson and Magic Treehouse have audiobooks which are great for road trips.