Why I Get Nothing Done At Night

We have a very long bedtime routine. Even now that the kids are big enough to do most of their washing and changing themselves, I still take hours at night getting them to sleep. The reason for this madness? I really enjoy reading to them. Ever since my oldest moved to her big girl bed we have read bedtime stories faithfully. It used to be a short and sweet thing to do each night, but now it can take hours, and even then it doesn't take much to persuade me to keep reading a little bit more than I am supposed to.

First off, all three of my kids enjoy different types of books. My four-year-old goes back and forth between picture books and beginner chapter books. We begin with her book each night because she is youngest and tends to fall asleep quickest. Her favorites include a set of beginning phonics books and Junie B. Jones, but our current book is 101 Dalmatians (Puffin story books)by Dodie Smith. The older two are happy about this are enjoying the book as much as she is. This is the book the Disney movie was based on. As usual, the book is much, much better. 

My eight-year-old is enjoying Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles, Book 1)by Suzanne Collins about a boy who falls to an underground world inhabited by giant bugs, bats, and a strange race of humans. Apparently we have a subterranean thing going with him. We had just read a very good abridged version of Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne after seeing the movie Journey 2. 

My eleven-year-old still loves a bedtime book too even though she reads for pleasure on her own now. I try to pick books she wouldn't pick on her own or something from the classics . Right now she is listening to the first of John Grisham's new book series for kids  Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. So far we both like it a lot even though she was not certain a murder mystery legal drama would suit her.  It is a genre of books that is underrepresented in children's books in my opinion. It walks the reader through the legal system in such a way that is both thorough and interesting. She knows very little about the legal system and will occasionally stop me to ask a question. The murder in the story is a strangulation but it is about as non-violent as a murder can be. Before this selection we had read a lot of fantasy and we were both ready for a change of pace. 

So, at any given time I can have three children's chapter books going, my own book club's book, an audio book for the car, and a couple of non-fiction books on whatever subject I am interested in at that moment. Then of course, the kids have their own books they are reading on their own. It is a lot of reading, I guess, but I love it. Thank goodness for good libraries!

I am always on the prowl for the next good book we will read. I am constantly jotting down my friends' ideas. Their writing curriculum by Susan Wise Bauer spends each week on a different book and if the selections strike our fancy, I add it to my future reads list. Despite this, I am down to just a couple of suggestions at the moment, so I would love it if you'd share any of your great suggestions!