Are there ever any evenings when you don't read to your children at bedtime?

[emkana]

That's it really.

I think we should only not read to them when it's very very late and they need to go to bed quick.
Dh would make exceptions more often if I let him.

God loads.

I try and read every night, but quite often use it as a threat if they start playing up. If they're not ready by 7.15pm, they don't get a story.

Are there any evenings where I DO read to the kids

about this time last year, stories were most but not all nights. But when ds hit 18 months he started kicking off if there was no story and it became an absolute necessity. we only don't have one if it's really late, like you.

It's funny dd never kicked off like that though - she's 19 months older than ds.

i am quite lax at weekends. i let dd1+2 choose a film to watch in their bedroom then

Sometimes I give her ... daddy's ipod (it has children's stories on it)

The only time we don't read to ours is if they have a bath at their grandparents (or other family/friends) and then we drive them home in their pjs. They are just messing about then. Otherwise even if it is late we find they take longer to settle so nothing gained. Of course if it was late we would be judicious in the choice of book.

lately, i sing her a little song from a baby group we went to(when she was a bay obv')..it go's

mummy touches babies nose(touch their nose)
mummy touches babies toes(guess what you do here!)
mummy strokes her/his hair like this(stroke hair)
mummy gives her/him a great big kiss(good night kiss, cuddle)

then goodnight and off i go!

only to be calle dback but your children may not be as much an insomniac as mie

don't rea to the 9 year old. Sometimes read to the 6 year old. When they were younger...up to 4 ? I read to them every night

Yup!

We tend towards your POV emkana, with ds anyway. Dd often misses a bedtime story because she has screeched herself to sleep before we get that far, but she has been read to during the day.
But ds at nearly seven only misses on reading to us and us to him if lateness is a real issue. And a deadline like caligula's is sometimes crossed on weeknights...

no, even if it's dead late i stick to the routine because she drops straight off then. plus i love snuggling up with a book while she's having her bottle, it's the only time all day she stays still for more than 30 seconds!

My son won't sit still to be read to... Bedtime for him has to be put him in the bed, sing him "you are my sunshine" tell him night night god bless I love you and then out I go, he is always asleep withing 15mins! he is only 17 months so I think when I move DD into his room a more suitable story time will come available!

Every night, one story each until dd1 at 6 decided she was too old to be read to.

Now I hardly ever do it since ds was born.

BTW I do read to him during the day, even if he is running around whilst I do it! Atleast I made the effort! lol

My dds are 8 and 7 and I try to do a story with them most nights, though sometimes things like youth club get in the way. We read a chapter of a book and I try to pick stuff that's good to read out loud. We are reading "The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler" just now - it was read aloud to me when I was at school and I loved it.

Ds2 reads to me and Ds3 from his reading book in the week,then ds3 gets a story of his choice in bed,and ds1 and ds2 read to themselves in bed.
Weekends we don't bother with the school reading book.

Currently unless one of us is out one of us reads to DS (5) and one to DD (2). And we alternate. DH is reading BFG to DS and I am reading through a compendium of dragon and giant tales. This is the first time we've done this, previously we've been reading every other chapter of Charlie ATCF, Horrid Henry, Flat Stanley etc. DD currently gets 3 stories.

I only dont read to ds if he is very tired or already asleep. Otherwise would cause murder as he always asks for his story. DD is only 5mths sometimes take her into ds room for story or sometimes just put her to bed.

I don't read at bedtime very often at all. We read more in the day, especially of a morning in bed of a weekend.

we read to ours every night - one story for each DD. have probably missed less than 10 nights ever - probably started when dd1 was about 2 so that's 10 nights off in 4 years. at last something about my parenting I can be smug about.

readfing other responses I'm now thinking we probably started earlier than 2. It seemed ludicrous but possibly not.

I have no license at all to be smug on this one. Our bedtime routine involves me saying "Bloody hell it's quarter to eight already- PJs TEETH,BED. NOW." at the moment. They hardly ever get a bath let alone stories. I must do better before they grow up into illiterates with potatoes growing behind their ears.

Yes, Mondays when dh plays football, and Fridays because everyone's too tired.

ds doesn't 'need' a book every night as he often gets 2 or 3 stories during the day when dd is at school.

Never
when DD plays up I threaten "NO story" but that makes her get undressed/get in bath etc

depending on time, DD gets 3 stories, DS gets 2 plus a few games of "who am I"

we used to have a chat but "who am I" is easier

e.g. postman pat - he then asks "person, animal, vehicle etc on tV - great fun !!

:o @ ScummyMummy.