Children and Bedtime Stories, are they Beneficial?

I read an article this week about reading bedtime stories to children, and it absolutely blew my mind. But not in a good way. At all. It was stated that reading bedtime stories to children helps them succeed better in life, that of course is wonderful! But then, someone was quoted saying:

“Parents who read to their children every night are giving their kids an unfair advantage over the children who don’t get read to every night”.

Yep! You read that right! You shouldn’t read to your children at night because you don’t want your kids to be smarter than other kids. You don’t want your children to advance more, because you decided having a little bedtime cuddle session and book was a good idea.

I read the article three times. I then sent it to my friend and asked her if I was reading it correctly. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. Who wants smart kids? I mean seriously? Why would you want your kids to succeed in life? WHAT? (Imagine a shocked face here!)

I believe reading to children is very important. I know that it takes time. I know that sometimes you don’t want to read the same book over and over again. I know that some nights you just want to go to bed and forget everything. Thats ok, you don’t have to read every single night or day, you and your partner can switch on and off. 😉 I have found that going to the library and getting new books always helps the excitement of bedtime. Sometimes, my boys don’t want to go to bed and letting them pick out a new story or listening to an old favorite helps the situation. I can still remember to this day, my mum reading to me every night. I loved it. She would cuddle in bed with me and we would look at all the pictures in the book and talk about them and that’s something I want my babies to share with me. I think a bedtime story is such a nice way to end the day. So keep reading to your kiddos. Make them smart. Make them love reading as much as you do and then watch how far they go.