When your mother in law is known for good ideas, things like book time for kids can be thought up and implemented. It’s such a small thing overall, but has made a big difference in our bedtime routine each night.
Before the idea of book time was born, our kids (two and under) were restless, didn’t want to sleep, and would often run amok in their shared room instead of staying in bed.
What is Book Time?
Pretty much what the name indicates, book time for kids is a time where the boys each pick a (board) book, take it to their room, and sit and look at them quietly for a pre-set period of time. Although the time may change from night to night, immediately following this period is lights out and sleep.
Although our boys are young (one and two years old as of the time of writing), this could work with older children, too.. and give them time to actually practice reading whereas our boys are just looking at the pictures and not truly reading the words yet.
Why Implement Book Time for Kids?
Although there is an additional bonus for us (we are in the midst of potty training our youngest), book time has several benefits.
- Time for the kids to settle (screen free) before lights out
- As the parent/caregiver you can join them in reading with them, or have some breathing room
- Extra bathroom breaks and hugs/kisses often happen during this time
- While potty training, most accidents (for us) happen during this time, so we clean them up before lights out and our youngest is able to stay dry longer (and we all sleep better because of that)
- Helps the kids with an easy before-bed routine that doesn’t take much thought but gets them in “sleep mode”
- Could probably also be done in the morning upon waking while breakfast is being made
Final Thoughts
If you are trying to get something done (like after dinner clean up), that’s a great time to plan for book time with kids in your routine. You could definitely add it to your arsenal of things in the list for Being Productive with Young Children Around… and that is typically a big plus… AND it’s easy to “prep” and do!
If you implement a book time for your family (our boys love it), there are a lot of possible benefits that could occur. Is this something you would consider in your family? Would you do it before bed, or another time? Let me know in the comments below… and if you’ve already tried it, let us know how it turned out!
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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