The Bedtime Story Ritual

Bedtime stories are a daily ritual in this house. The kids MUST get a book or two (or three or ten, pleeeeese Mummy??) before they go to sleep, or there'd be unhappiness all round.

I'm glad they love books but boy, does it get tiring for me to read books one after another. Especially when they usually don't agree with the other's choice of books so Mummy has to read double the quota. Meips is the sort of child who must read her favourite book-of-the-moment over and over, reading session after reading session, day after day,so I can't blame Noey for objecting to their precious story time being used on the same book they've already heard a million times. It even drives me a bit batty too.

Now that Noey is an independent reader, there have been many occasions when I am tempted to just ask him to read on his own. He's actually so competent a reader that I take it for granted that he can read any word he comes across. He frequently pulls out books to read on his own, but when he comes up to me with a book in hand, I try very hard not to turn him down. He loves me to read to him, and so I do. And except on days when I'm ready collapse come bedtime, I actually really enjoy it. 

So I was very glad to come across this article on Babble with seven reasons why you should be obsessed about reading to your kids. The points made by the author reaffirmed a lot of what I do and what I believe about reading to my children, identifying these reasons for reading aloud:

1. It's time spent together.
2. It's a conversation starter.
3. It's a great way to talk about emotional health.
4. It's a great way to honour the individuality of your children.
5. You can open up new worlds for your kids.
6. You get a wealth of information on where your children might need help.
7. It can lead to a lifelong love of reading in your kids.

I enjoy reading to the kids because it's a time we can spend together doing something that I love to do. I do the voices, and I get Noey to read parts, and it's a lot of fun. And I realised recently that now that when the kids read aloud, that sound like me in tone and inflection. Haha. Noey knows to stress and slow down words written in caps or italics, to end correctly when asking a question, and to up the volume for exclamation marks. I'm sure my mother, who often comments that Singaporean kids read and speak with a really flat tone, would approve. (She was a teacher and it's an occupational hazard!)

Another thing I love about reading aloud to my kids is the fact that it's given me the opportunity to re-visit old favourites from the past.  We started on covering some chapter books recently and Noey's been loving Roald Dahl. Our current read is Mathilda. I've always liked that one though it sure doesn't paint a very favourable view of adults! But I'm glad that it gives me an opportunity to discuss themes like how good triumphs over evil, and also that of power and revenge. All with Roald Dahl's trademark humour, which can be above Noey's comprehension. I love seeing his eyes light up as I explain puns and irony and get him to see beyond the plain text.

The only issue with reading chapter books is that these hold little interest for Meips, who would sometimes get restless and go do her own thing. It's ok when Papa is around to step in at bedtime, but otherwise, I do feel a little bad about that. I'm hoping with time, she'll come to understand more, but in the meantime, we continue mixing it up a bit with picture books so that Meips too can be a part of the action. Because reading is fun, and I want them both to know that.

(Or maybe I should get this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Pop-Up Book from The Groovy Giraffe, which I think will capture both their attentions? The "GET5OFF" code to get an additional 5% off this book and all other books on the website still applies by the way!)

Still, while I relish my role as the main bedtime story reader, when an opportunity arises for me to outsource that duty to my assistant, it does give me a bit of a thrill.

Gor-gor reads to Mei-mei and Mummy takes pictures! Win.

I'll end this post with cute video of Meips "reading". She can't really read of course, but little miss bossy pants just loves pretending to! She actually told a way more interesting story but I was too slow in pulling out my camera. So all I got was this clip.

I hope bedtime stories are a part of our daily routine for a long time to come!