I am typically a fairly voracious reader. I read at least 100 books a year, and I always take great pleasure in setting my Goodreads goal to challenge myself. But this past January, I only set my Goodreads goal for 50. You see, I was having a baby in April. And I didn't know exactly how that would change my reading, but I knew it would.
But since my little boy has arrived, I've had to increase my Goodreads goal to 75. And then 100. As of right now, I'm actually 25 books ahead of schedule. It turns out that having a baby can actually increase your reading time.
How did that happen? Well, I'm still not entirely sure how I'm getting through the amount of books that I am. But here's what I think is working:
But since my little boy has arrived, I've had to increase my Goodreads goal to 75. And then 100. As of right now, I'm actually 25 books ahead of schedule. It turns out that having a baby can actually increase your reading time.
How did that happen? Well, I'm still not entirely sure how I'm getting through the amount of books that I am. But here's what I think is working:
- Audiobooks! I honestly didn't have much use for audiobooks before. I'm a very visual person, so I didn't get as much out of books when I listened to them. It also drove me crazy how tuning out for a moment meant that I had totally lost the thread of what was going on. But now, I've discovered that audiobooks are awesome for all those moments when your hands are busy but your mind isn't. And there's a lot of those sorts of moments with a newborn.
- Keep your books close. I always make sure my current read is next to me before I sit down to feed my little guy. But there were lots of times when I would head to the glider in the nursery to rock him to sleep, and I wouldn't have a hand available to carry my book. So now I keep a book on the table next to the glider. I only get to read it while I'm rocking him, so it takes me awhile to get through. But it's right there every time I need it.
- Have a supportive husband. My husband is amazing. He turned pages for me in the early days of feeding. He took sole charge of our baby during the Saturday of the 24 in 48 Readathon so that I could escape to the land of books for a day. He knows I love to read, and he's done everything he can to help me keep my passion even though we're a lot busier now. (He'll also kill me for including him in this post, but that's just what happens when you're so good!)
- Visit the library. Pre-baby, I thought this would be the perfect chance for me to finally read all of my unread books that sit neglected on my shelves. Surely I wouldn't feel up to going out all the time, so it would be easy to just select something that I already owned. Yeah, not so much. I'm reading almost solely library books now (except for the one next to the rocker in the nursery, because it takes me three months to get through one of those). Library books come with a deadline, which makes me more likely to pick them up in the evening, instead of crashing in front of the TV.
I know I'm far from the only book blogger out there with kids. What are your tips for reading with little ones around?
RSS Feed
