Ok, just out of curiosity - Do you read bedtime stories to your kids or just read to them during the day? Did your parents read bedtime stories to you? I read to my kids during the day, but I don't do bedtime stories. For some reason, whenever we've tried doing bedtime stories, they just get wound up & take longer to fall asleep. They sit & behave fine when I read to them during the day, but at night they're bouncing off the walls if I read to them. I've even tried reading different types of books and having dh read to them instead. Nothing made a difference, though. So, we stopped trying. My parents almost never read to my sis & me as kids. My dad once decided to read us Pinocchio when we were little. He didn't even make it halfway through. I still have the book, with the bookmark where he left off. My sis & I keep joking that someday we're going to make him finish reading it to us. Even when I read it to my kids, I left his bookmark in place.
We bounce back and forth on this one. On the nights I am home I read stories or poetry to the girls. Right now we are working on Beatrice Potter. I found a complete collection of hers at a library sale. My parents read bible stories to us for awhile. I remember snuggling up in their bed and listening. My favorite was the fiery furnace.
I tell my daughter "I'll read that too you at bed time" and for some odd reason by 2:30 in the afternoon I'm reading that book. Now that we are tv free my daughter has cycled through most her "baby" books and we are moving through her books. Last call for story reading is about 6pm so that gives her a full hour to wind down for bed time.
We don't really do bedtime stories either. I work part time nights so it was never a set routine we got into. We do read at night but we mostly read during the day. I don't remember having a bedtime reading routine when I was little either, we just read whenever. I do realize when we read at night that it does not calm my kids down either though. So I guess as long as we're reading it doesn't matter when.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't do bedtime stories. I always wanted to do them, probably because my parents never really did (with the exception of the attempt at Pinocchio). I wanted them to have great memories of snuggling up in bed listening to mommy read them their favorite story. With the way kids act when I try to do bedtime stories, any memories of it would start with "I got this scar when...." They literally bounce all over when I do bedtime stories. I was reading to them one night, and in the middle of a sentence, one of them went flying off the bed. :shock: They have enough scar stories already, I don't want those stories associated with "Mom was reading me a story." :lol:
I used to read to my kids every night for a very long time. When my two older ones were 2 and 4, we would spend a ton of time reading and laughing before bed. My dh always thought we were having a party. Recently I read Pilgrim's Progress to them..well..not recently but over a year ago. Anyway...sadly it has been a VERY long time since bedtime stories. The kids get to bed too late most nights and I am too tired. I feel like I am cheating my younger dd..lol. However, my older dd often reads to her siblings before bed so I guess I don't have to. lol
We just finished "The Secret War of Private Donkey". Usually I have a book going during the day, and Carl has one at night. I wouldn't call it a "bed time story", though!
I prefer reading in the day myself. I sometimes wonder if bedtime stories aren't pushed because that's when working school parents have time. If I spend two hours reading Arabian Nights and Lord of the Rings in the afternoon then I can't see why I have to read again at bedtime.
When Ems was younger, I read to her before bed. Now we all have our own book going but we still read together. Sometimes we read from the book she is reading and sometimes I read a book to her that I think she likes. Usually this isn't done before bed. Unless we are having a slumber party in the living room, then I will share a bit of what I am reading and she does the same when she comes across a part of the book she enjoys.
We do bedtime stories but it's never been a "kid" type book, For bedtime stories I always choose a long book and read them a chapter (or a few pages depending on how long a chapter is) per night. During the day I'll read all the short story books they want (as long as I don't have other things that must be done). We read a lot to the children.
Dawn, I think it sometimes helps to get kids calmed down for bed, after they've been running all day long. But you're right (GOSH!!! Did I REALLY say that???) that WHEN you read isn't as important as the fact that you DO read!
We're back and forth. We always read to my 2 yo at naptime and bedtime, but the older kids, it comes and goes. I like to read to them but I really wish my husband would do it more. I don't read so much during the day...keep saying I will but I get distracted with other stuff...but my 6 and 8 yo are both big readers and read to themselves. And my kids have "quiet time" to read to themselves before bedtime. But now...I'm thinking about heading up and reading again. <sigh> I wish my husband would do it. He's out of town all the time, so it would be great if he'd do it when he were here. Blech.
Each of my boys gets to pick a story at bed time. It can be a picture book or a chapter of a bigger book. We read snuggled on the couch together before they get into bed so they can each enjoy each other's story too.
We rarely do "bedtime" stories. If we've re-checked a book at the library for the last time, we'll cram in as much reading time as possible before returning it (LOL!), but since day one (or... night one), our bedtime routine has only included prayer and religious songs.
bedtime stories I never got read to at bedtime, but sometimes my mom didn't get to take her afternoon nap because I insisted on being read to. I was reading myself to sleep at night pretty much from age 5. I read to my DD, while rocking in the chair, when she was little, but pretty soon she too was reading herself to sleep at night. DS was just too squirmy (adhd) to sit still for much reading at all -- I was very very happy when he was about 8, and I heard myself say, "Put the book away and turn out that light - it's time for sleep!" Now when his ds (age 4) comes for the weekend, grandma might read while rocking in the chair, or pa-pa might read to him in bed. Or when we go to DD's house to babysit her DD, we read about six or eight or so small books (she's 2 1/2) before putting her to bed for the night, more or less just like her mother. When we used to have foster kids, we read in the living room before sending them off to bed, too.
Have you considered giving your adhd child something to do...coloring, Legos, or even something to hold in his hand and squeeze...while you read? So he doesn't have to sit still, but can still get the enjoyment of being read to?
adhd son Jackie, he's 27 now and has two DSs of his own, to whom we read every time we get a chance....
