Mom shares her family's 10-year tradition of ending each day with an hour of silent reading
"This has to be one of the top nervous system regulators out there."
A great way for the whole family to wind down.
Mom and business coach Becca Pike (1beccapike) recently shared a rather unconventional nightly routine that she and her family have been doing over the past decade: reading in silence for one hour.
In a video posted on her Instagram, Pike explained that her house has a hard lights-out curfew of 8 p.m. However, that curfew can be pushed to 9 p.m. if you are reading. It was something she started with her eldest child at seven (now 17), and continued with all four of her kids. Even before her young kids could read, they would still participate in the routine, and “just stare at the pictures” in their books.
The result: a pack of calm booklovers able to sit comfortably in boredom and get great sleep. All this happened by simply not ending the night with the “TV blaring” or “running errands till passing out,” according to Pike. Hence why she claimed "this has to be one of the top nervous system regulators out there."
To say parents were inspired would be an understatement.
“Love this! Trying to cultivate better sleep habits...and this is perfect,” one parent wrote.
Another added, “ Ready to start this with my 5 month old lol”
A few other parents shared their own similar routines.
“We do ‘quiet time’ for an hour before bed - rules are you can do reading, writing or drawing ❤️ it’s so lovely to do these quiet activities together and a calm end to the day.”
“What a beautiful scene! We do something similar, and it’s a great transition to bedtime ❤️”
“Love this - we have a no phones in the bedroom rule and you get an old school alarm clock ⏰”
We generally know how vital boredom is to a child’s development, helping them become more creative, better at problem-solving, more emotionally resilient, and yet, our modern world makes that unstructured time harder and harder to come by.
The truth is, relaxation only comes if one intentionally carves out time for it. Pike’s kids are not only getting to learn this firsthand, but because she herself participates. They see this kind of healthy behavior modeled by an adult, which also helps the habit stick.
There are other kid-friendly, screen-free activities—like enjoying a warm bath, listening to soft music, doing gentle stretches—that can also be effective at inspiring a sense of calm before bed, so long as they’re done consistently.
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But what’s particularly cool about this reading routine is that it can be enjoyed both as a solo activity and as a shared family experience with shared benefits. Adults are in equal need of a respite from the screens, chores, and last-minute to-dos. This simple, predictable ritual offers a shared pause button where everybody wins. Kids get a sense of autonomy (“stay up later if you read”) while parents still reinforce boundaries and rest. And for both parties, reading is reframed as a cozy privilege rather than a chore.
When modern life moves relentlessly fast and demands constant stimulation, an hour of collective quiet might be one of the most generous gifts a family can give itself.