“I’ve noticed a huge change in my kids attention seeking since I started the routine of reading to them at night.

On the nights that I’ve had a long day and don’t have the energy for that extra 20 minutes at night, they will continue to get out of bed and come downstairs multiple times and it ends up being a 2 hour ordeal instead of the 20 min of reading time and mommy time they wanted to begin with. And usually ends off with me being upset with them instead of having a happy smooth bedtime.

I have been letting them go to the library and pick out one book and we usually read that same book every night for a week. I thought they would get bored of it and want to switch it up but every time we read it they end up asking a different question about the book. As adults we read and understand for the most part and move on, but as kids they love to dive into the book and now on the 3rd or 4th time reading it they pick out what character they are tonight and what dog they would have chosen as their pet and it starts an entire new dialog I would have never thought that was going through their head. It has made me appreciate the kids more and made me realize and understand the way they think things out. And now I reach back into that bag of tricks to help them when they have breakdowns and know the way their little brains work just a little bit better.”

MichelleMother of 4 kids– ages 3-9yrs

“So far my favorite part of the experience has been the cultivating of a new pattern. We enjoy something together that’s not connected to an electronic device. We finished the book last night. The kids loved it. Absolutely loved it!
We talked about how Winn-Dixie helped Opal to make friends. And how he helped her to learn that it’s ok to miss her mama and still be happy and move forward in life.”

KevinSingle dad of 3 kids– ages 5-10 yrs

“I recently felt like our evening bedtime routine was out of control. I had been so good at it when my older kids were younger. We had a fabulous formula that concluded in reading bedtime stories every night.

Now that my older kids are in middle school and high school, though, our evenings are often busy and full of late night activities. I still have several younger children, however, and I noticed we were all frazzled, tired, and bedtime was dreadtime.

When I stopped to assess what I could do to improve, I realized that bedtime stories had gone by the wayside with my younger children. It takes a concerted effort to keep reading to my kids as the anchor of our bedtime routine, but I noticed the payoff immediately! Reading bedtime stories is something they look forward to and provides us with the incentive to not only get to bed on time but to also have a chance to connect at the end of a busy day.
Making time to read to my kids gives us the opportunity to have spontaneous conversations. Sometimes, reading time just turns into child-led conversation time.

My kids have actually told me that they felt comfortable telling my husband and me certain things because we read to them every night. That is when I feel like I’m winning at parenting!”

MeredithMother of 5 ages 6-15 years