The bedtime reading routine in our household has evolved over the years, as I’m sure it does in any household containing children. We started reading to Elliot from a very young age because he seemed to enjoy it. Amy was different, and we tried to read to her early on, but often it would just be one very short book because she wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until we moved into this house that I remember her actually sitting on our laps for any length of time for books, so she would have been about eight months old.
We almost always did books separately, partly because Amy went to bed significantly earlier than Elliot, and also because their attention spans were so different (rightly so given the age difference). Both had their “book jags” where they’d want the same book over and over, but Elliot could usually be easily convinced to read something else. Amy not so much. I think I sang “The Aunts Go Marching” to her about 100 times straight (thanks Tia K!).
Even as they got older, when their bedtimes got closer together and Amy started really enjoying books, we still mostly did them separately because their taste in books was quite different. Around the time Elliot turned four, we received a few light chapter books and started reading them to him, and he loved them. And Amy had absolutely no interest in them because there were no pictures in them, or very few. Amy often requested that we do books together, and I’d start with dread, knowing it would end badly. Amy, totally not interested, goofing around on the bed, interrupting the story and generally being a two- and three-year-old, would be dragged from the room by whichever parent was not reading. So Greg and I would often divide and conquer and each read to one child. Gradually Elliot got into more sophisticated chapter books and I was in heaven, reading him full-on novels like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Borrowers.
And then that all changed, and I don’t exactly know when. Some time in the last six months, maybe? Now we read books together every single night. Amy is fine with chapter books, but likes to be alerted when there is a picture. She doesn’t comprehend them as well as Elliot (again, rightly so given the age difference), but she listens and asks the occasional question about the characters. We usually start by reading two or three of her books (which are sometimes lighter chapter books like Geronimo Stilton or Arthur, and sometimes picture books) and then we read a chapter or two from whatever Elliot has on the go (which is usually several books, as Greg and I don’t read from the same books, and Elliot usually has one or two that he’s reading on his own).
The other thing that’s changed is the length of time we read to them. It used to be for about 15 minutes, but now I’ve noticed that both Greg and I often read for about 30 minutes. And I’m still thoroughly enjoying it, because I’m getting to read all the books that I loved as a child, and both my kids are cuddled beside me. It’s a really nice way to end the day.