It's not earth-shattering or anything, but my kids love it.
In order to break away from the same repeat favorites and delve into some more buried titles in our enormous collection of children's books, I've implemented "mystery reading" books before bedtime a few times a week.
Our routine is much like most families, I presume.
Dinner is followed by bath/shower, pajamas, teeth brushing, bathroom use and books before getting tucked into bed for prayers and negotiations (because it's not always high on their list to lay in bed).
I usually grab out up to 10 books before bed, depending on the amount of time we have before the 7:30 bedtime. I hide them and one-by-one, grab one out and read. They have no say in the order, no say in the book choice and it eliminates fights over whose selection is first, last or in between.
Parenting is something else. I spend at least the majority of my time bribing, convincing, and pulling negotiations with the small people to get them to perform (more efficiently/better/at all). But this little trick is one of my favorites, because then I get to read the books I love more often, too. #winwin
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4 comments:
10 books at bedtime?! Mercy. We do 2-3 tops! Mama has couch time to attend to!
Ha, that's what I thought. But if I'm trying to pass time #moty, I'd rather read books than play. Our new tradition is reading 1-2 books together, then Bode gets to read a book on his own, comes out 1! time to say goodnight again, then tucks himself back in. Shockingly, it's working.
That's what I had to do for potty training bribes, otherwise I'd be sitting on the bathroom floor reading for hours. We're now on chapter books and oh my god, 7 has me like 😍.
I love this trick. Let's be honest, I far prefer certain books to others. I've been known to hide the ones I really can't stand and we found a few in random places when we moved out of our house.
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