I absolutely love to settle in with a good book. A good digital book on my Kindle that is! I am OBsessed with my Kindle. In fact, when I just look at it I feel myself chill out a little. (I have the new version of the Paperwhite that is waterproof, FYI!) I love that I don’t have to hold the spine or turn the pages with any more effort than a tiny tap – especially if you turn the case sideways and make a little stand like this!
I know there are those of you who LOVE the smell and feel of a real book.
I get that. You are probably the same folks who use a paper planner! I wish I could use paper planners, but I can’t handle making any changes once they are written down, so as a perfectionist, the edit-ability of digital is where it’s at 
Reading is my form of meditation
Reading is one of the few ways I can get my brain to totally shut off its thoughts about to-do lists and life happenings and escape to another world. Since I use reading as an escape, I prefer to ingest nonfiction information in the form of a podcast or documentary. Thus, I mostly read fiction books.
Times when I read
- In bed every night, as the last thing I do (literally), and sometimes I only make it 2 minutes
- Occasionally on the weekends, say a rainy day when we have no plans and the kids are napping/playing nicely with friends
- On vacation, mostly if I’m kid free 🙂
Sadly, reading is pretty low on my totem pole of priorities. I am working to change that!
Our Evenings
While I could definitely read a page here and there during the day, say, instead of scrolling through Instagram when I have five minutes or playing Toon Blast while nursing, I find it hard to read in such small increments. So ideally I’d find some time in the evenings to read more.
Generally evenings go like this:
5-6 Before dinner chaos, packing lunches, throw in a load of laundry, Mazen shower, make dinner
6-6:30 Family Dinner
6:30-7 Birch bath, dinner clean up, keep Mazen happy
7-7:30 Put Birch to bed (nursing, stories, snuggles)
7:30-8 Usher Mazen towards bed (read stories)
8 Kids usually quiet in rooms
8-9 Watch a show, eat dessert (!), fold laundry
9-9:30 Get ready for bed, tidy up, face routine, talk about our days
9:30... Read
Finding An Extra Hour To Read
See that “Watch A Show” line? We watch a show maybe 4/7 nights of the week. Sometimes more, sometimes a little less. But what I’ve noticed is that if we skip the show, the evening is SO much more relaxing. We mosey upstairs. I might do a face mask. And reading starts a LOT earlier. I read so much more when we don’t watch TV because I’m not so tired when I get in bed. (I also eat less dessert – ha!)
It seems like a no brainer to give up that evening show. I DO enjoying snuggling together on the couch and having a plot to discuss. We have watched some really good shows! But it does seem like the show takes away more than it gives. I can’t decide if it’s worth it to read more to “miss out on some American culture.” (“I wish I read less” – said no one ever. I think that’s my answer.)
Another idea I had: save the shows for the weekends when we stay up a little later and read during the week. Just like I’m saving alcohol for the weekends, the M-Th show-free routine is a great way to split the days.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
I definitely need to pick up the habit of reading again! Great post!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Doro says
I’m aiming for an hour of reading per night. Most nights, it’s about 30-40 minutes before I sleep. That said, I don’t have kids and I currently don’t live with my partner, so it’s just up to my self-discipline to get to bed and read. Btw, my favorite kind of vacation is just laying by the pool and reading (with occasional pauses for cooling down in said pool). I CANNOT think of a better way to spend my vacation, but my last reading vacation was two years ago…
KathEats says
ME TOO! That’s not something I’ll be able to do again for a long time 🙂
Lynne says
I, too, read to relax. Most weeknights we read after dinner until bed. On weekends, we will watch shows that we have saved or movies (and still read a few pages before bed).
Marissa says
The hubs & I read Mon-Thurs evenings & save movies/shows for the other evenings. This works out great for us & has for many years now!
KathEats says
That is a great schedulinng idea!
Shana says
When we switched to a streaming service, I discovered that I’m too lazy to search for shows. So, a happy side effect has been that I watch less tv. Reading is required for my sanity, so I read every night before bed and crawl in bed quite early to do so. I’ve found that I sleep so much better on nights that I read before bed so its a win all around. Since time is so limited when you have small children, I try to prioritize the things that “fill me up” vs. drain me. Technology is often a drain so I’m really trying hard to focus my attention on soul satisfying activities. It’s a work in progress 😉
KathEats says
Agree about draining me!
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie says
I didn’t read regularly when I was single, but now that I’m married with stepkids, reading for a bit at bedtime is part of our family’s life. It’s just such a nice way to wind down in the evenings. It might be for only 10 minutes, it might be for an hour. And we’re huge readers on vacation – we hit the beach and if we’re not in the water or building sandcastles we’re turning pages.
Liz says
I also LOVE my kindle paperwhite! I haven’t read an actual paper book (other than to my kids!) in years.
My husband and I don’t really have a set schedule. We take a few nights a week to “do our own thing”, where he usually watches sports and I’ll either watch a show of my own or go up to bed and read. But I also struggle with finding long stretches of time to read unless I really make it a priority. As my kids are getting older and playing on their own so much more, I’m trying to use that “extra” time to read more instead of spending time on social media. It’s all a balancing act and some days I do better than others.
Laura says
We’ve worked “private reading” (as named by my son – haha) in to my son’s bedtime routine. Whichever parent is putting him to bed reads his/her own book while my son reads on his own for 15 – 20 minutes (sitting together on his bed), then we’ll read a couple short books to him before he goes to sleep. It’s a nice way to relax together, and I think it’s good for him to see us reading for pleasure as adults. On the weekends we’ll often have “family quiet time” for 30 – 45 minutes after lunch and we’ll all read on our own (often in the same room) or do some other quiet, independent activity. It’s honestly one of my favorite times of day!
KathEats says
I LOVE THIS!! Now that Mazen can read, I want to add it too!
Elizabeth says
Our dog broke our tv a few weeks ago and I have to say I don’t miss it. If I want to watch something on Netflix, I’ll do that on my laptop or phone, but the time suck of sitting on the couch for an hour or two watching tv is gone and the evenings are so much better. I’ll probably replace the tv in the fall when the weather gets colder but for now, I’m enjoying these long summer nights without a tv.
Julie says
I tend to read more on weekends. In fact I go to the library or bookstore and read for an hour. I find I’m too distracted at home to properly read during the day. I want to read at night before bed too, but like you, after tucking in our son, we watch shows together, and I usually fall asleep during the show!
Amy says
Does Thomas read? My husband and I watch 1 or 2 shows before bed each night then I read a little. I would prefer to read more but he doesn’t read so I feel like I am leaving him out in the evenings. Plus the shows are more of a shared experience than individual books.
KathEats says
He does – but he falls asleep pretty fast
LSS says
I joined a book club a few months ago and it’s the most enriching thing I’ve added to my life this year! Extra motivation to read, books I might not have chosen for myself, reactions and perspectives that didn’t occur to me, and just an incredible new group of women friends! I do most of my reading after my son is in bed. The real trouble for me is getting into a good story and staying up too late!
LSS says
Also, sometimes my partner and I read the same book at the same time and that can provide the same snuggle time and fodder for plot conversation as a shared show does.
KathEats says
Great idea!
Nikki Griffin says
A stand with your Kindle case?! Mind blown, how have I survived this long without this knowledge???
KathEats says
Haha!
Betsy says
Our four year old struggles at bedtime, so once he’s in his room I’m ready for bed! Being 25 weeks pregnant, most nights I’m ready for bed at 9. My husband likes to stay up later than me, so our evenings are quite different. We’d like to spend more time as a couple, tricky with kids and pregnancy right now…but a goal for us!
KathEats says
Most nights I get Mazen into bed and march upstairs too!
Slater says
I take a bath every night and read while doing so. I like to watch shows in the evening too with my husband and will usually take a bath while reading for about 30 minutes.
Aubrey says
This is almost exactly how our evenings go – I read off the Kindle app from my phone though (and turn nightshift on as warm as possible!) Some nights I get a good 3-40 minutes in and sometimes its not even a page before my phone is falling on my face haha .I wish I had more time to read because I love it so much! I would love to know what you are reading? I am currently reading The Alice Network and just finished Where the Crawdads Sing 🙂
KathEats says
LOVED Crawdads!! I’m reading When Life Gives You Lululemons right now. It’s good but not awesome.
Andrea Shome says
I wish my husband read with me but he’s just not a reader! We do ‘individual time’ though with me reading and him listening to podcasts! A good trade off. I also love a paperbook but the kindle (and now kindle on your iphone?!) is just so convenient – you can sneak it in any time!
Carla says
I’m laughing because our nightly routine is almost exactly the same, I have a 1 year old, so her bedtime + cleanup + next day prep takes up that extra half hour you have slotted for Mazen. Also, I don’t read – I try to fall asleep by 9:30 haha! I miss reading, but evenings are a hard time for me because my husband isn’t much of a reader so we have our shows we like to watch together as at least 1 activity we do together in the craziness of an average day. I do like evenings when he’s out with friends though, as I typically either read OR do lots of product information research on things we need to buy…a different kind of reading, I suppose! I look forward to my kids getting older (#2 on the way this fall) so that they’ll play together and I can sit outside and read while watching – jealous of my neighbor who does this!
KathEats says
I think your neighbor is a unicorn – hahaha! But totally have the same routine as you!
Tracy says
I share your Kindle obsession! Earlier this year I was a panic cuz I left mine on an airplane! Ugg!! I never got it back so replaced it immediately. I was lost without it!
When my kids were Mazen’s age-ish, we had 30 minute reading time every day. I was able to read then also. It worked out really well and my kids learned to expect it (and 2 of the 4 enjoyed it! haha)
My husband doesn’t really read that much (he does read every issue of Sports Illustrated but does that count?). We also watch shows at night and I love that we share that and discuss so I think the time is worth it. I do like the idea of keeping it on the weekends though!
KathEats says
Thomas left his on an airplane last year – so sad.
I am just loving y’all’s suggestions to read WITH your kids (in addition to reading TO them). I really want to start doing this with Mazen on days when he’s home and Birch is napping. Hope he is willing! Perhaps a visit to the library would help.
Vicki says
I love reading but like you, find it hard to prioritise. I like a good schedule and the Mon-Thurs reading routine sounds great – I’m going to try that!
I still read paper books so fortnightly weeks to the library here!
Lindsay says
I run into the same issue of shows and books competing for time at night. Sometimes I also fall asleep after reading just a few pages, but lately I have been enjoying my books too much and as a result staying up too late. Usually not the right choice as I never know if my one year old will sleep through the night or not… On responsible nights we either don’t watch TV or do a shorter 25 minutes show to leave some time to read. But we do usually end up watching some TV for some cuddle and plot sharing as well!
ErikaMC says
Maybe in addition to having a show to watch together you could both read the same book and discuss it? Sounds good in theory but my husband is not a reader so that would not work for us 🙂 Summer is harder for me to fit it in but I try to read before bed each night and squeeze some in on my lunch break. If I’m making something that requires a lot of stirring I’ll prop my book on the counter so I can read it while prepping supper. On the weekends we also try to have at least 20 minutes quite time (again – harder to do in the summer).
Meghan says
We don’t have a typical evening. Some nights my boys’ games are pretty far away and we all get home late, or I’m running to pick up kids after practice if my husband is working late. Those nights it’s get the kids in bed ASAP (which is 9:00 ish), clean up the kitchen etc., and chat for a few minutes. We have a month off between baseball and soccer right now. Right now it is 8:30 – My daughter was in bed by 8:00, the boys are watching tv downstairs, my husband is working late because of it being a short week, and I’m about to online shoe shop ?. If he’s home and we can both get to the couch by 9:30, I read books or blogs or shop (I really don’t go to stores) while he watches a show. If he’s working on his laptop, I’ll watch a show. We watch very little tv and have no common show interests right now. Or we’ll sit and talk for an hour or so. Sometimes we play board games with our boys (9 and 12) if we aren’t peopled out.
I love to read too! My biggest obstacle is finding books. If I’ve asked around or been aware and have a nice list of what I’d like to read, I read a lot. If I’ve been lazy about curating “want to reads”, I don’t read any. My husband listens to nonfiction while he drives. We may not read the same books, but we like to share and discuss what we are reading. I just got done reading a YA book called The Family Romanov. So fascinating!
KathEats says
Here’s a list of books other readers said were “sooo goooood.” I’m slowly working through it!
Love Walked In
The Only Woman in the Room
Sourdough / Sloan
The Proposal / Guillory
This is how it always is / Frankel
Matchmaking For Beginners / Dawson
This could change everything / Mansell
Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine
The Ice Cream Dream of Orchard St
Meghan says
Awesome! Thanks!
Laura says
I came back to this post because I was hoping someone would type book recommendations. Haha I read “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” a couple weeks ago and loved it! Eleanor’s back story unfolds throughout the book and the way I felt about her (and understood her) at the beginning was totally different than how I felt and understood her at the end.
“Love Walked In” is awesome, too. It’s actually part of a trilogy and I recommend all three books. I kind of missed the characters after I finished reading all three books. 🙂 The author’s other books are good, too, if you like the style of “Love Walked In.”
Anne says
I also read to relax. I do the most quality reading when I have good books queued up and available.
Do you follow Modern Mrs Darcy? Her blog and podcast keep my To Be Read list full.
Some good ideas from Laura Vanderkam too, https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/12/year-making-time-read-plus-memorable-books-list/
Miley Buss says
Short answer… I do BOTH! But, I’m also a single gal with no kiddos to care for. I usually watch a show while I eat dinner and read later on right before I go to bed. 🙂
Elizabeth Erickson says
How did you decide between the paper white and the oasis???
KathEats says
It’s bigger, heavier, and a lot more expensive, so I didn’t even really consider it. I also didn’t think I’d need audible. But it IS supposed to be the best of the best!
Rebecca says
I have a 20 minute per day rule – I have to read for at least 20 minutes every day. If I haven’t done it by bedtime, I stop watching tv or start bedtime routines earlier so I know I can fit it in. Growing up I remember we had “quiet time” where my younger sister would nap and my brother and I were allowed to do one of three things: nap, read or work in a workbook. If you need incentives for the family, I encourage you to sign-up for your local public library summer reading program. Sign-up the whole family and make it a big and FUN deal to check out books and talk about what you’re reading from the library. You may even earn a cool prize!
Laura says
For a long time I resisted a kindle thinking I wouldn’t like an e-reader as I like the physical feel of a book, etc. Last summer I ordered one during prime days for a great price to try it out and I love it! It is so convenient. As a mom to two kids, I don’t always have time to drive to the library but I can just check out the books online from the library so I never have to drive there! And the ability to have multiple books on one little device is amazing-especially on vacation! I can put it in my purse and take it anywhere and read whenever I get a chance. I’m a convert!!!
Jenny Share says
This book blogger LOVES this post!