Making space for reading at bedtime

When I was younger I always had a book on the go and still remember the pleasure of being curled up on the bed with my nose in a good book. As an adult I don’t always get as much time to read as I would like, but I’ve managed to carry on the ritual of reading before bed. It means that even on the busiest of days I know I’ll have a moment of peace and a place to escape to at the end of the day.

Our kids can have busy days too. Between school, homework and after school clubs and activities there’s not always a lot of time left to be quiet and unwind. But that quiet time is necessary, especially for deep feeling kids. It gives them chance to think about their day and start to process all that happened. I've found that by bedtime everything's whirring and it can make it difficult to relax ready for sleep.

We’ve always read to our son at bedtime and it’s a ritual that I will happily continue until I’m told otherwise! It’s a great time to have some quiet time together and share a story. It can spark some good conversations too. We've found it to be a good way of creating a time and space to relax and start to unwind.

After we've finished reading and said goodnight, he will often read for a bit longer, and I hope I'm instilling that little bedtime ritual in him too. The only time this has been a problem is when the book has taken an interesting turn and he’s been unable to put it down. But we’ve all been there!

Now, I can't enthusiastic enough about the importance of reading at bedtime, no regardless of age, but getting your kids to that point in the bedtime routine can feel like an up hill battle. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for that one, but if you do I'd love to hear them!