Keep reading to your children and soak up those wonderful moments
My daughter is in her thirties now, and my son in his mid-twenties. Books at bedtime are a long way behind us, but, if prompted, I can still recite chunks of Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, one of the greatest literary sequels of all time.
I know what happened to the Hungry Caterpillar, what’s in Sam’s sandwich and who Katie Morag plays with on Struay.
Sadly, bedtime reading is apparently going out of fashion. Some parents think it’s boring. After all, the internet can do the entertaining. All that fast moving imagery and high energy music. Yep, that’s going to send little brains into deep and relaxing sleep.
Reading to kids at bedtime is a very special treat. Nothing cosier than a sleepy little head leaning against your shoulder whilst you turned the pages to discover that Thing One and Thing Two had once again created mayhem, or that Fungus the Bogeyman had done something unspeakably horrible.
My son loved that book. Fungus was his life coach for a while, to be emulated by loudly announcing he was “bogeyman farting” with every little peep. He once had an underwater gassy moment at the Commonwealth Pool. Fungus would have appreciated the high-octane live commentary.
Yes, they love the same books over and over again. There’s something about repetition that reassures children. They know that the very hungry caterpillar will always eat loads of healthy stuff and then turn into a beautiful butterfly. Thanks to author Eric Carle for that. Can’t have been the only mum who got broccoli into little tums by claiming it could give kids lovely wings. Note “could”.
It relaxed me too, at the end of a busy day. Mind you, I did find the personality of Dr Suess’s flat-out deranged hat wearing cat a little too close for comfort. Turns out, so did my kids. That time is gone all too quickly. Soon they’re off and the books gather dust on the shelf. Don’t hand them the tablet or the phone. Read to them now and soak up those moments.