Do you have a bedtime routine you do with your kids? With two kids now sharing a room, two different bedtimes, and one super light sleeper of a baby, the bedtime routine has gotten a little more complicated. Here’s how it all went down on this particular evening earlier this week…

Photography by Liz Stanley and Sara Albers.

This post is sponsored by Chronicle books

6:00 pm After dinner, Edie and Henry both take a bath together (we don’t take baths every night, don’t judge me!) and this time we made it a little more special with bubbles and glow sticks. We splashed around a bit and before pulling Edie out I made sure to compliment Henry on not pouring water over Edie’s head this time (the hardest temptation to resist!).

6:15pm Returned to the bath with Edie in pjs who immediately attempted to crawl back in. I washed Henry’s hair and helped him into his towel. Henry insisted on me helping him into his pjs too, “You never do it anymore and you ALWAYS help Edie“. Okay, okay let’s do it, almost 7 year old.

6:30 pm After pjs were on Henry runs into the living room to grab some books to read together with Edie in bed.

He came back with the three Jeffery Brown books: Goodnight Darth Vader, Darth Vader and Son, and Darth Vader’s Little Princess. Goodnight Darth Vader is the third in these series of NYT Best Sellers that take a funny spin on the classic Star Wars movies. Such a great collection of books based on the hilarious premise, what if Darth Vader were a good dad?  They’re filled to the brim with pretty comic illustrations and clever lines twisted from the films, “If only you knew the power of sleep…“.

When Chronicle books contacted me about checking out these books, I knew instantly Henry would love them. He’s just about able to read them himself without help and gets 50% of the jokes. Which is perfect because in a year he’ll get another 25%, and then another 25% a year after that. I think this will be a series he’ll be enjoying for a while. Even Jared and I got a kick out of the books!

6:45 pm Edie stayed with us on the bed for a bit while Henry read some of the book to her. I love that he can read books to Edie now, although, she’s still more interested in eating books than reading them. He finished up reading all three to himself while Edie and I looked at some baby board books on the floor together.

7pm We hear Jared walk in the door from work and Henry runs to greet him at the stairs. Edie soon starts rubbing her eyes and I enlist the help of Jared to go over homework with Henry while I nurse and then put Edie down in her crib after a couple songs and exactly 2 million kisses on her chubby cheeks.

7:30pm Teeth brushing, bathroom and one on one reading time with Henry in our bed.  He reads to us and then we read to him. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love watching him become such a great little reader. It’s amazing how quickly they pick it up, I swear this time last year he barely knew his letters. So proud of this kid!

8:15pm We tuck Henry into our bed. Lights out, giggles about a potty joke earlier that day (always, always, without fail), and then prayers, kisses goodnight, and some solid plans to meet in dreamland together and fight the storm troopers with Luke and Leia.

11pm After doing a bit more work, some cupboard snacking and catching up on tv shows, Jared and I get ready for bed ourselves. Before we hop in though we have to move Henry out of our bed and into his. He’s such a deep sleeper and always says something kind of funny and nonsensical when we try to get him up that he never remembers the next morning. Last night it was, “What the heck? Something bad is happening!”. Me, “Nothing bad is happening, we’re just headed to your bed. Good night”. 

What’s your bedtime routine like? What books does your family enjoy to read together? 

Room sources: Edie’s crib/Macrame wool rug/Balloon print above rocking chair by Blanca Gomez/ship kite mobile/ side table stool/reading lamp/DIY pom pom rug/vintage rocking chair/Henry’s quilt. More images from Edie’s side of the room here.