Do you read a bedtime story every night?

[BMW]

Well, no! Not ever night. But, then again, I don't have ANY little children any more. So, the reason I reply on this thread?

 

I was able to keep my 3 year old grandson over night this past weekend when his mom delivered his sister (baby Chloe by c section). I LOVED having a youngster around. It was incredibly fulfilling to see my husband, across the room, gazing at me as I took little guy to pick out a bedtime story. And when he asked for another story? Grandma (that's me) went right over to get another one! And another.

 

Really, enjoy your little ones!!!!! Whenever someone said, "Enjoy those babies, they grow up so fast!" I wondered, "How can I enjoy them any more than I already am?" And there is the lesson. To ENJOY them. And know that one day you will be reflecting back on those days... wishing for just one evening to cuddle them and read a story to them...

[LaissezFaire]

Generally we read a read aloud as a family then older DS reads to younger DS and older DD's read to youngest DD. They all love to read aloud so I let them read the picture books.

[Zann]

Yes - I try to stick to stories that will relate at some point to our history lessons. Thier current favorite is Sons of the Dragon Emperor.

[Rosie_0801]

No. I do like the idea of it. But by the end of the day, I just want them to go to bed as swiftly as possible. I have neither the energy nor the patience for a bedtime story.

 

And that's just how it is:)

 

And that's how it is here too. When ds is tired, he needs to be put to bed and left alone. Dd might appreciate bed time stories, but to be honest, by that time of the day, I'm all for climbing into bed and reading a story to myself. I've started working on a routine of reading to dd while ds is napping. He still tries to steal and chew books, so we've got to keep him away from the paper! Dd enjoyed it for the first week, but over the past few days she's decided to talk over the top of me. I'm not sure if she's just in a naughty kinda mood or if she doesn't like the books. She's not verbal enough to tell me.

 

It's a timely reminder for me though. I'll talk to dh about reading a bedtime story since dd likes to climb in between us to fall asleep, then he carts her off to her own bed. We go through seasons of bedtime story reading, then they go and change their sleep schedules and mess everything up!

 

Rosie

[Audrey]

Not always every night anymore, but we all read before bed -- sometimes aloud and sometimes silently individually. We do try to have one "family read" every month. It usually takes a week or so to finish a book together, then we're off on our own reads again.

[IsabelC]

Yep, most nights each of the kids will get stories read either by me or their daddy. We enjoy doing it as part of the settling down for sleep rhythm. I hope they won't grow out of it just because they learn to read for themselves. I never have: I would love to have somebody who can read out loud really well reading to me every night.

[Harriet Vane]

Yes, even for my nearly-14yo. It's a special time, and important to us. I also read aloud to them every morning.

[Soror]

Daddy does nightime reading from 8:30 to 9 currently(will go earlier when time changes). Sometimes the 3.5 y.o. falls asleep during. Usually he reads a picture book or two to her then part of a chapter book to ds. Currently they are working through Magic Treehouse. I let them pick whatever they want for that reading. After lunch we do reading and usually that is more classic lit and the same w/ after bfast reading but at bedtime it is their choice(within reason we only keep certain books in the house).

[Kari C in SC]

I read a chapter of a book to all each night. Then DH and I divide and conquer, reading multiple story books to each child each night. Bedtime snuggles and stories are on my top 3 list of good memories with the kids.

 

:iagree:

 

I always read bedtime stories to my oldest two. Then along came Sebastian. He was a, ummm... not so easy toddler, etc. Somewhere along the line, I stopped reading bedtime stories when we had him.

 

The day I found out my oldest had died in my midst of shock, I got a book off the shelf that night at read it to Sebastian before he went to bed. I have no idea why that was THE thing that came to my mind of all the things. I have read him a book every night since. My oldest had a book called My Name is Ernie. We read it so much I memorized a page.

 

My name is Ernie.

Yep, that's me.

My name begins and ends with E.

I love to wear my stripey shirt.

My best friend is my buddy, Bert.

 

That played through my head for days. Some good always comes from bad. So, we have bedtime stories again.

[Kari C in SC]

Well, no! Not ever night. But, then again, I don't have ANY little children any more. So, the reason I reply on this thread?

 

I was able to keep my 3 year old grandson over night this past weekend when his mom delivered his sister (baby Chloe by c section). I LOVED having a youngster around. It was incredibly fulfilling to see my husband, across the room, gazing at me as I took little guy to pick out a bedtime story. And when he asked for another story? Grandma (that's me) went right over to get another one! And another.

 

Really, enjoy your little ones!!!!! Whenever someone said, "Enjoy those babies, they grow up so fast!" I wondered, "How can I enjoy them any more than I already am?" And there is the lesson. To ENJOY them. And know that one day you will be reflecting back on those days... wishing for just one evening to cuddle them and read a story to them...

 

Very well said.

[rootsnwings]

Every night a kid has been home for the last 9+ years there has been a bedtime story (or 3! ;)) My oldest prefers to read in his own bed but me & the little ones pile up in my bed everynight for snuggles & a story. :001_wub:

[Giraffe]

DD climbs into her castle tent and I read "Goodnight Moon" every night, over and over, until she falls asleep. Sometimes we'll precede "Goodnight Moon" with another book (or three), but we always finish with "Goodnight Moon".

 

I wonder what would happen if someone read "Goodnight Moon" in a rhythmic, calm way at a sports event (over the PA system). DH thinks at least half the stadium would drop asleep. (He can't stay awake when I read it to DD.)

[Dawn in OH]

No. I do like the idea of it. But by the end of the day, I just want them to go to bed as swiftly as possible. I have neither the energy nor the patience for a bedtime story.

 

And that's just how it is:)

 

Sadly, the above is my answer.

My husband has spent many years working at night, so I have been alone for preparing dinner, serving dinner, feeding the kids, clean up from dinner, getting the pajamas on, diaper changes, bath time, etc. I usually have no time or energy left for a bedtime story.

 

When the oldest two were small I often managed to read a bedtime story. Every now and then the evening goes well and I am able to read a bedtime story. Dad makes an effort to read one on the nights he is off of work too. But as far as bedtime stories on a regular basis, it just doesn't happen. I wish it could be a nightly thing, but alas, I am a mere tired mortal.

[lailasmum]

my kids have bedtime stories 2 or 3 times a week and audio books the rest of the time. I read to them so much during the day that I can't see straight at bedtime and am just too tired. My dd gets annoyed when I can't stay awake and the story stops making sense. We do most of our fiction reading first thing in the morning before breakfast and in the afternoons.

[mom2jjka]

Yes - a story book to my littles, and a chapter from a a chapter book (or sometimes SOTW) for my older two.

[ereks mom]

We have done this ALL THEIR LIVES, so they are in such a habit of it that we don't even think about whether to do it or not. When they were tiny--infants, even--we read from children's Bible story books. Then we graduated to Keys for Kids. When they "outgrew" those, we started reading various teen or adult devotional books. Sometimes there's a fictional story to illustrate the scriptural concept, sometimes just an "essay" of sorts to explain the scripture. Every night, just before bedtime, the whole family--and any guests who might be spending the night in our home--gathers in the living room for family devotions (usually lasts about 10 minutes). We read the Bible and take prayer requests, and one person prays aloud for the needs that have been mentioned. We have often prayed for people on this board during our devotions.

 

Dh & EK & I often read other books together during the evenings after supper. Correction: I read and they listen, because we all prefer for me to do the reading. They are both very auditory and like to be read to. I am very visual and like to read aloud--and I can NOT pay attention to a story if someone is reading it to me. ER is the same way, so we didn't do many read-alouds as a family until he went away to college. ;)

Edited October 12, 2010 by ereks mom

[Food4Thought]

Yes. I read to the kids every single night (even when I really don't want to) because it's an ingrained habit now. They are still little, so each kiddo gets to choose a picture book to read, and I get my pick of another book (sometimes school books like science or history, sometimes a longer read-aloud). We don't always get to reading during the day, so I know we'll get to it at night this way.

[....]

Yes. This is when we do our Sonlight Reading.

[chubbyhugs]

Yes, we do a read-aloud every night even when we are on vacation. Dh likes to start the read-aloud and I take over when his voice gets tired. We started bedtime stories when dd was 5. She's 14 now. During the school year we usually do the Great Books Discussion reading assignments while dd14 draws at bedside. We're currently reading the Oresteian Trilogy - funny but thankful that there have been no nightmares for any of us. On vacations we read Mark Twain, Edward Lear, or some other book of interest.

[OrganicAnn]

Yes. Every night.

 

One short book after bath. Three books before bed or 3 short chapters. For longer chapters I based it on amount of time it takes to read.

[mellifera]

I read a bedtime story to all 4 dc most nights. Sometimes it gets too late and we skip it, but most nights I read 1 or 2 chapters of something. It isn't always a book of fiction - we have used history and biography as bedtime stories also. By the way, the oldest is 15 and still enjoys me reading. I think it's a tradition at this point.:001_smile:

[ZeldaRules]

I read to my kids 90% of nights. Some nights I am just exhausted or stressed and actual bed time is later than it should be, so I just put them to bed. But we read 2 stories every night (picture books). I try to get books out of the library on the subjects we are studying, so it coincides with our studies. ;)

[PineFarmMom]

Not every single night, but probably 5 or 6 out of every 7. :D We read several shorter books each night, depending on what 4yo is very addicted to at the moment.

[gpsings]

Yes. Every night to the little one, the other ones are allowed to read for about 30 minutes before lights out.

We also read a book at nap time.

[amyrjoy]

No. Occasionally. It seriously is painful for me- my throat- to read so much. I hate reading aloud for this reason. We do tell short little stories thought at bedtime, with the kids as the main characters. They are creative and short and simple.