Parenting

READ TO YOUR KIDS!!!! I read to my 3 younger girls, the oldest is 11 (the rest are all school age)

We have kept bed time routine in tact (during the school year)

Its an opportunity to just hangout, most nights we read but some nights we run down a YouTube rabbit hole. Or the girls just fall asleep talking to me about whatever is on their minds.

We have read since 2021

Most of the Harry Potter books

The Hunger Games

Freak The Mighty

Max The Mighty

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Martian

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Holes

Small Steps

Maniac Magee

Hoot

Dory Fantasmagory

Hail Mary

Space Cat

The Fighting Ground

and some others I know I am missing.

Some of my picks are obviously not kid's books but I had a thing where as my younger kids fell asleep I would read whatever I was reading or was cool to me out loud to the remaining kids and they really loved some of them.

That has shifted a bit and I now keep a few books in rotation.

to all the kids I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. when my youngest falls asleep then I pick up Kiki's Delivery Service when the next oldest kid falls asleep its time for The Hunger Games

It's a bit selfish but I found that I can keep my momentum going with the routine myself by ensuring I read things that are interesting to me. I also get the kids more excited by being genuinely excited myself to read.

Its quite amazing to feel strong emotions about the books with my girls and everyone should try to experience that in my opinion.

I also typically read a book exactly as written. Except in the case of The Martian. My kids preferred that I read that with a silly soundboard to lessen the language (at their request).