To wish dh had never invented "story from your head"

[pilkers]

Dd is 2.5, a while back she went through a phase of playing up at bedtime and to settle her dh would go back in and tell her a "story from his head", she loved this for some reason and now it's become part of her bedtime routine, oh AND she wants one for her nap. I'm totally shit at them and start panicking when I'm reading her book cos I know "story from my head" is coming up. What will it be this time? Another classic about finding a lost cat and taking it back to its owner? That crap one about the fairies that rambled on too long? That frankly shit one about baking a cake?

Agh. I love reading her bedtime story but I long for the day I put her in her cot and she doesn't ask me sweetly for "story from your head now?".

Is this a tradition in anyone else's household? Do you struggle for inspiration or am I just an unimaginative old bag?

AIBU to wish dh had never started the whole bloody tradition?

Oh God is hate that. Can you rehash a fairly tale or two

I used to get this, so I told them the 3 bears, or rumplestiltskin or 3 billy goats gruff etc. without the book. Satisfied them!

just tell her short fairy stories or fables or films she hasn't heard/ read/seen yet.
then when she does get to read/see them you can act all indignent and pretend they stole your story....

Pretend your name is Enid Blyton.
Job done!!

indignant!!

DD1 likes this too. I’m not very good at it but often just telling a story about a girl with a name almost the same as hers who did similar things to her that day works well. I think she just likes the undivided attention it gives her, content is pretty irrelevant. She’s 4.

Yes I have done that a few times, except I do seem to be incapable of not rambling when telling them, I really need to work on being succinct.

Ha we used to do this! But we made it ‘story of the day’ with the child as the star of the story - basically just recall everything they did throughput the day but make it a bit more exciting

Dh does this occasionally for dd1. His stories seem to revolve around the Disney princesses going to the pub!

Dh does this occasionally for dd1. His stories seem to revolve around the Disney princesses going to the pub!

Ha she's not really got into Disney stuff yet but I could totally get on board with duggee and the squirrels going for a pint with Sarah and duck

We used to do this with our dc when they were little and I always found the worse part was when they ask for the story about Sammy the Squirrel that you told 4 days ago and can’t remember properly but they can and keep telling you when you go wrong

Just read instead! You don’t have to comply with the request.

As long as the story includes a bogey, a zombie or the police, my son is happy.

Once i included all 3 in one story, he said it was better than any of daddy's stories

My son loves this especially if it is about someone with the same name. I make them silly and short ( so once upon a time there was a little boy called x and he was tickled by his mummy so much he exploded,)

Could you tell her a true story from your own childhood - not necessarily something profoundly interesting, but what happened on your first day of school, or a holiday you went on, etc?

Our babysitter makes up bed time songs!!!!
I’ve told her to stop being so nice 😳

Oh, I LOVE this sort of stuff!

Animals are good for inspiration. I had long sagas about mice and about some baby sparrows in a nest. And my DD loved my earrings - only coloured glass but they were Ruby, Pearl, emerald, sapphire and so on and all had their own personalities. There was also a story about people who lived inside a trombone

Recite the lyrics of some songs without the music? C&W songs usually have a plot...

We do this, it always involves a competition (usually burping or trumping) daddy comes third I come second and he always wins....

‘That’s daddy’s treat. Mine is to read to you from a text with cohesive narrative and believable characters.’

In case you couldn’t tell I’m not the ‘fun parent’.

I ask them for three things (they say teddy, ice-cream and a ball - or whatever) and make up a story around them. Gives a bit of structure.

Sympathy. I was ordered to 'make up a song about Mog the Forgetful Cat' today. As soon as I had finished she asked for it again.

Just retell her something that happened in her day, or the day from the perspective of her favourite soft toy, or something. I love reading to mine, but I much prefer books I can just read to ones I am going to have to discuss with them. My middle one had a looooooong You Choose ohase at one point

*phase

My dh did this, but it was always about our dog and next door's cat.

It was every single night and went on for years! We even have little homemade books based on all the stories.

Seems sweet when they are teenagers but was probably tiresome at the time.

We do this! Started exactly the same way but it’s good fun, as someone else said they love stories about their day, our DS’s favourites are about his friends from nursery and what they have been up to together.