Mommy Story Time

Over the weekend, we decided to really shake up the night time routine and introduce Mommy back to story time. My kids really struggle when the routine is switched up, but my wife really wanted to start reading to the kids again before they go to bed. So we decided to try it out this past weekend and if it was too chaotic, we would go back to me reading to them.

I didn’t have high hopes originally because my kids usually got too hyper when we changed anything with the nighttime routine. When they get too hyper, it takes them 20 to 30 minutes extra to go to sleep. My six-year-old daughter E is especially susceptible to it. Since we were going to start it on a Saturday night, they would have Sunday to recover if anything shook up the hours of sleep they should be getting. We decided to switch it up and I was again with the baby.

I think with enough sign posting and reminding the kids that they needed to settle down during the special story time, they were really doing their best to listen. They weren’t rowdy at all. They weren’t hyper. By the time story time was done, I walked in the room to lay near the kids until they fell asleep and my wife took the baby again. It went so well that we have been sticking to this routine for the last few days and even though I miss story time with my two older kids, I’m sure they love extra Mommy time. And I get extra time with the baby. Win win all around.