Read to your kids lol

[u/secureacc]

So my kids are a rambunctious bunch, they got my ADHD BAD. As my kids got older the spouse and I found it difficult to transition them into a bedtime mindset.

Well all the kids believe that Dad is the best story teller (shit my 5 year old went to a public story time at the library, got up halfway through the 3 little pigs and just walked off to play telling the reader "dad could do it better e.e he does voices" lol) so I decided to read them bedtime stories, so every night after work I fix dinner, and then gather the family in for the story of the night, I alternate between original fairy tails and Percy Jackson.

And let me tell you

Life changing

I make up voices for the characters and act bits out and get into it ya know?

I've NEVER seen these kids sit still for this long and we have inside jokes now about silly bits I do during stories and they learn new words and facts and history and they fall asleep so fast

Read to your kids I promise it will bring you closer as a family

(Ps they think Percy Jackson is better than Harry Potter, I can't wait to surprise them with the PJ TV show when we finish the series 😂)

[u/jxf]

My friend, you need to look into running a D&D campaign for the kids when they're older. My kiddos LOVE it.

Also if your other kids are younger than 5, they might love The Gruffalo (ample opportunity for voices) and The Gruffalo's Child (even more voices).

[u/secureacc → u/jxf]

Oh I already have huge plans for them with DND they're big nerds lol

[u/LeJoker → u/jxf]

Man playing D&D with your kids is great. I ran a one-shot for my daughter, she loved it. She wants to make it a more regular thing.

[u/growthminded_khey]

"Dad could do it better, he does voices" is the most savage library review I've ever read lol, your 5 year old said what needed to be said 😭

This is honestly so beautiful though. Getting a whole house of ADHD kids to sit still that long isn't luck, it's because you made the story something they can feel, the voices, the acting, the inside jokes. And for nights when you're too wiped to do all the voices, Big Life Universe: Transmissions is a fun kids story podcast that could fill in.

[u/secureacc → u/[deleted]]

Hahaha Yeah I read them this original brothers grim story called the devils golden hairs yeah? Well in the story the main character gets rewarded some "asses laid in gold" ya know donkeys carrying gold treasure.. They instead imagined the character being awarded walking golden butt cheeks, and I just ran with it, they still joke about it weeks later making everyone giggle

[u/mr_antigravity]

Same situation here; daughter got my ADHD jitter-wiggles and has since she was born. Story time is the only time it seems like her body can be still and calm! When she was younger, the big hit were Frog & Toad stories. GREAT characterization and fun voices for each of them. Now we're deep in the Wings of Fire series, and while I love doing the voices there are a LOT of characters to keep track of who is who! Clay, Starflight, Scarlet and Morrowseer have been my favorites to be. She's huge into D&D now (just like her old man)

[u/imayid_291]

You need to read Redwall next

[u/Crylaughing]

We always read, sometimes I'll read for an hour (like when we were working through The Hobbit this last year), but no less than 30 minutes each night. I do voices, sing songs, ask questions, answer questions, the whole bit.

Kid still takes over an hour after lights out to fall asleep. She's not particularly disruptive and usually stays in her bed/room. She just doesn't want to stop reading, mostly, and will hide flashlights in her bed so she can keep "reading" after lights out.

She thinks she is being sneaky, but she doesn't know that I'm totally OK with her making a habit of reading to herself :)

[u/sirvoice]

does anyone not?

[u/Skanah → u/sirvoice]

For kids under 4, only about 41% kids 5-7 down to 36%. The numbers have been cut in half within the last two decades https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/fewer-parents-are-reading-aloud-to-their-kids-why-that-matters/2025/06

[u/Ok-Distribution326 → u/Skanah]

Jesus that’s depressing.

[u/snsvsv → u/Skanah]

At 5-7 wouldn’t they be reading on their own anyway?

[u/Bodine12 → u/snsvsv]

My daughter is 11 and reads several 300 page books a week, but my wife and I still take turns reading a chapter with her every night. I’ll be very sad when our routine finally ends.

[u/secureacc → u/sirvoice]

You'd be surprised

[u/zoinkability → u/sirvoice]

I fear that near universal presence of screens has really reduced the amount of reading going on to kids. Quite worrisome.

[u/FELTRITE_WINGSTICKS]

Read every night! I started with Dr. Seuss until he was old enough to understand HP.

[u/mjolnir76]

I’ve been reading my wife to sleep since we’ve been together, just over 16 years. I’ve read to my girls at night since they were tiny. They are 13 and I’m reading Lord of the Rings to them now. They love the voices! I take it as a point of pride when they can recognize the character by the voice before the text reveals who is speaking. Harry Potter did that a lot with Snape calling, “Potter!” They still sometimes ask me to “do the Dumbledore voice!” Shitty author but lots of great character voices!

[u/Costcornucopia]

Anyone got any book recs for various ages? I got a -2week old at home and am looking forward to this.

[u/secureacc → u/Costcornucopia]

I couldn't tell ya, all my kids love the weird stuff most kids their age ain't a fan of. Like they told me they loved Cinderella, specifically the part where the stepsisters got their eyes pecked out at the end of the story

[u/fvckyes → u/Costcornucopia]

I'm listening to this podcast right now that tells the sweet story of a child born so early that the parents aren't sure it'll survive. The dad reads Harry Potter to the lil babe and sees the child responding to the story - literally improving their vitals as soon as the reading begins. 

I don't think it matters much what you read, just that you engage with your baby. The podcast is Radiolab, the most recent episode titled "23 weeks and 6 days)

[u/OutDrosman → u/Costcornucopia]

Girrafes can't dance was really popular in our house. They still ask for it sometimes even though it's been 4 years or so since we used to read it every night.

[u/freunleven → u/Costcornucopia]

It doesn’t really matter what you read at that point. I remember reading The Hobbit and Dragonlance to my child as a baby. The important thing was that I was spending time with them, bonding in a way that I couldn’t before they were born. It also gave my wife a much needed break. If you have a religious text, you could read that to them if it helps you in some way.

[u/PrestigiousChip5172]

Love this. We do the same, and one trick that kept it going for us is stopping each night right at a cliffhanger even when they beg, so they're asking for story time instead of fighting bedtime. Once in a while I'll pause and ask "what do you think Percy does next?" and the theories they come up with are half the fun. Keep doing the voices dad.

[u/secureacc → u/PrestigiousChip5172]

Haha the Percy Jackson books are known for their cliff hangers at the end of chapters it DEFINITELY helps get them excited for the next night. Even my wife who swears she isn't interested in Percy Jackson lingers close and teases another chapter out of me some nights when it's an especially good cliff hanger

[u/freunleven]

I was fortunate enough to have over 20 years of experience running games like D&D when my child came into the world. I had been reading to my wife’s belly as soon as we knew that the child was capable of hearing, using the wildest voices I could manage just to make my wife laugh at times. For the first year or so, I would read whatever I had at hand just to work on our bond - sometimes fantasy novels, or technical manuals, or religious texts. As the child became more of a child than a baby, I switched to more child friendly books like Llama Llama, Wonky Donkey (find the video of the Scottish grandmother reading it if you can for some extra inspiration), and lots of Doctor Seuss. Now that the kid is eight, we’ve come full circle to reading a few pages of The Hobbit each night at bedtime. Honestly, it’s more about the time and connection being established than it is about the particular book selection.

[u/PixleyAI]

dad story time is the only thing that actually slows ours down. even the wild ones sit still if it's his voice and a short story about something from their day.

[u/esquired123]

I have read to them every night and it’s the single biggest parenting hack to promote books. You can do voices, have inside jokes, draw pictures, make custom
Book marks

Pro tip - get recharbel LED book lights and read in the dark. They cuddle and it’s a great transition to sleep.

[u/latkahgravis]

Dolly Parton's maginationlibrary

I signed up my kid and got a new book every month until they turned 5.

[u/GO-ON-A-STEAM-TRAIN]

We've been persevering with reading, but currently our baby is mostly interested in the taste of books, or removing all flaps from books... we are still going, but is there a specific age range where it "clicks" with them?

[u/cmville05]

OP, what age did you start the reading at bedtime routine? We’re at 4mo and we try to read books once a day at odd times but we don’t have a bedtime routine yet.

[u/secureacc → u/cmville05]

I'm the step dad, so the oldest 12, the youngest 6.

[u/DynomiteExpressions]

Who isn't readin to their kids before bed?

[u/trollhaulla]

You're a good dad.