# Does anyone else's toddler want to be read to ALL DAY?!?



## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

My 2 year old wants me to read to him ALL OF THE TIME (he turned 2 on 12/3).

I have actually started to limit the number of hours I will spend each day reading to him! Is that crazy or what? Who would have thought I would be discouraging it - but seriously, I could read to him all gosh darn day long!!

Anyone else have a toddler like this? How do you handle it? I feel really bad for not always reading to him, but really... I've got stuff I have to do sometimes!


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## autumn_faune (Jun 15, 2005)

here, here!

mine is 14 months, but same story!

and it's the SAME BOOK... over and over and over


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *autumn_faune*
here, here!

mine is 14 months, but same story!

and it's the SAME BOOK... over and over and over









Groan! Same here! The current favorite is "The Great Big Air Book" by Richard Scarry. That thing is 70 pages long!!!

I just groan to myself when he picks it up. Sometimes I even suggest we read something, and if he goes for it I am so glad!


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## GoldBerry (Oct 4, 2004)

YES! My 18 month old would sit on my lap, play with my hair and read all day. She gets mad when I read a more grown-up book to her sister. I love to read myself, so I foster the love, but there has to be a limit even to a good thing.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Right there with ya. My 17 mo old will get the book, grab your hand, put the book in your hand, sit on your lap, open the book and put your finger pointing to the words







the child KNOWS what she wants. Luckily her daddy is very patient with repitition and will read to her for HOURS at night, cause mama gets tired sometimes....









-Angela


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## allismom (Nov 28, 2004)

Yep same here. DD is almost 3, but since she's been about 2 1/2 she'd let me read to her all day! I usually read a pile and then encourage to 'read' to her baby dolls on her own for a bit.

I would rather read a whole pile of short ones, than one of those really long ones!

Since she's a bit older than most of the other posts this may not help you, but I got her "Read With Me DVD" for Christmas. Not to replace me, but she can follow along with a story being read to her if I need to get something done and there are interactive games for her to play too.


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## amyjeans (Jul 27, 2004)

i am currently witnessing my oldest (3yo) reading to my youngest (15mo) It happens so often! I have resorted to making her read to me instead. She knows it by heart anyway-
what makes me crazy is not the repetition but the fact she can be read to while the tv is on! How she can do that is amazing. I get to easily distracted. Her daddy can do that ,too.
I agree- short books are easier than any other books when it comes to the shortened attention span of this mama .


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## wurzelkind (Oct 8, 2005)

Same here








But DD knows that I am not the most patient person







so we mostly make imaginative play together.
As soon as we get downstairs though she grabs a book, goes to either her grandma or granddad, puts the book on the table, asks 'looking at book?' and then puts her arms in the air awaiting to be placed on the lap and then look at the book














And they almost always willingly agreed








When we ride the train together though to got to Munich we always have a book or two w/us to shorten the time and have something to look at.

I wouldn't say that she wants us to read to her all day long but I think it could be more for her liking


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## sciencemama (Nov 13, 2004)

Yes! Honestly from the moment she opens her eyes, dd asks to be read to. We've started making a trip to the library every week or 2... at least we get a little more variety that way!


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## BetsyPage (Mar 5, 2004)

Yes! I have to distract her with other activities... it's the worst at night, it takes like an hour to read all her "favorites", and if I try to set limits and say just 3 books or whatever she boo-hoos... so we read "Go Dog, Go," "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," "Goodnight Moon," and many, many others.

But I have noticed that she has started memorizing them... she will pipe up every now and then with a phrase or two. So I guess it's one of those developmental things they are driven to do!


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## royaloakmi (Mar 2, 2005)

Yes. We read for hours everyday. Sometimes I could just shoot myself.









Basically, I hide books that I can't take anymore (as long as it's not a current favorite) and we go to the library A LOT so that we can have new books (which helps with my boredom).

My dd has about 90% of our books memorized, and I have noticed in the past week or two that she will start flipping through a book on her own now . . . maybe she's on her way to entertaining herself with books a little? Her twin brother has actually woken up in the middle of the night and asked to read a book (in his sleep I think). Oy.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *royaloakmi*
Basically, I hide books that I can't take anymore (as long as it's not a current favorite) and we go to the library A LOT so that we can have new books (which helps with my boredom).

Oh boy- I hear ya on that one.... have to say- do NOT buy books from the Target dollar section without reading them first.... trust me.... just poorly written, gramatically incorrect drivel....

-Angela


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

My DD was like this for about 6 months and now she is much less so. Now it's all about making me play with Play-doh and playing on the computer, and I actually miss the reading. So...be careful what you wish for.


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## MamaHippo (Dec 4, 2004)

No advice, but I'm right here with you. My 18 mo DS would do almost nothing all day but have me read books to him if i allowed it. As it is, we read about 10 books a day. He even picks up my books (no pictures, paperback) and sits with them, turning pages and pretending to read. I truly hope to raise a voracious reader, and it looks like its working...


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## rere (Apr 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna*
Oh boy- I hear ya on that one.... have to say- do NOT buy books from the Target dollar section without reading them first.... trust me.... just poorly written, gramatically incorrect drivel....

-Angela

i love my duckling is the first one my daughter grabbed this morning.uhg!

as soon as we get out of bed my gal goes straight to her room turns on the music and starts reading books.thankfully she will spend some time reading to herself.at least long enough for me to make some tea.most days we read every book on the shelf.lately she's been getting mad because i have a 3 times in a row limit.but i just can't read the same book more than 3 times in a row.i'll loose my mind and there isn't much left.


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## darien (Nov 15, 2005)

Oh yes! 15m ds flies off the handle if you don't start reading the moment he hands you the book. His big brother was the same way, and still reads constantly (he's 9)-- better than most adults. So there is a potential payoff!


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## Sydnee (May 1, 2004)

Yep! If my girls, (2 & 4) had there way, we would read alllllll day long! I do daycare, so before naps we sit down and read for about 1/2 an hour everyday, then little spurts of reading throughout the day. Nothing better than then wanting to be read to so much! I really think that is why both girls talked so well from an early age on.


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## goosysmom (May 28, 2005)

Not the only one...and my dd doesn't care who reads to her, as long as someone does...

Luckily she's weaned herself off of the Dr. Suess A-Z book...whew...I was having strange dreams about some of the creatures in it.....LOLOL

We have a big square basket with books and she brings em over one at a time and plops in your lap and is content to stay there as long as you will read....she'll get up and get another and another....I got tired of reading some of the same ones over and over so those got put up high on a bookcase and we got some new ones from a yard sale out and added them to the bin...Just rotating them out...keeps us sane and her interested....

I don't mind as long as I'm feeling good...when I'm sick, it's daddy's turn....


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## nonnymoose (Mar 12, 2004)

I got a bunch of great pictures of my son at Christmas. He got a lot of books, and as soon as he unwrapped each one he'd plop down and look at it








Don't dare try to read a book to another child when he's in the room, whether he knows you or not! He's also doing the memorization thing, which is really funny with *The Icky Bug Alphabet Book* - imagine a two-year-old saying "orb weaver spider" or "earwig."


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## KariM (Mar 13, 2004)

Sign us up as well - but she's only 16 months!

Her obsession started about two months ago. At first we were thrilled that she was interested in be read to, but now we try and get her to do other activities.

I've found that reading 3-4 books and then getting up off of the sofa and actually starting to play with a toy while explaining to her what I'm doing will stop the cycle briefly.

Luckily we have three readers (me, DH, and DS) to help share the workload.









--Kari


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## KariM (Mar 13, 2004)

Not to hijack, but I thought you might be interested in this story since you're going through a reading phase at your house.

Last week, DD found a macaroni box in the recycling bag and brought it to DH to have him READ IT! Apparently her library of books isn't interesting enough and now she has to go through the recycling for reading material.

Here's a pic we shot of the event:

http://www.retroragswi.com/auctions/010406AE.jpg


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## tgrlilly (Jan 28, 2005)

Here too!
Last night I was kicking myself for not picking up a new Richard Scarry at the flea market for $1!
Variety helps!!


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