By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
(More)About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
(Hide)View all posts from Cheryl Bac
We all know that reading books and bedtime go together very well. Books can help kids sit still and unwind after a long day of running around. I used to read to our kids before putting them to bed every night. However, with a new baby, these bedtime stories ended up being more stressful than relaxing for all of us.
Recently we've all enjoyed storytimes much more when they happen earlier in the day- when our kids wake up, during lunch, when baby is napping, before a play date, etc.
With three children, I can't promise any of our kids an elaborate bedtime routine. Thankfully our older kids are finding their own ways to keep reading a regular part of their evenings.
Some nights they choose to look at books together on a futon, other nights they decide to at books by flashlights in their beds, or they ask to listen to audiobooks as they fall asleep.
I love seeing my older kids' creativity as they come up with more and more ways to stay up a little past bedtime by looking at or listening to books.
I'm glad our summer schedule can accommodate their love of reading books after dark. I hope as the days get shorter and school starts again, we can shift bedtime early enough so our kids can continue to incorporate this love of reading at night during the school year.
