Good book/story to help reign in wild 4 year old?

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here’s my situation , I have a 4 year old girl and it seems the only time I have to spend
with her ( besides Saturday & Sunday ) is the evenings during the week , because I work
long hours Monday through Friday. My wife is a stay at home mom and my mother-in-law
lives with us , my daughter is an only child and so she is around adults all the time , and
I’m seeing her seem to grow up too fast because of it. By the time I get home she is a
bundle of energy and wants to play all night ,** is there any good books that any of you
could recommend for a Dad like me ?** A story that is interesting to a 4 year old and as
a bonus – something that is strongly influenced by our beautiful Catholic faith , something
wholesome , maybe something based on the life of a Saint , or something like that , the
goal would be to get her calmed down before bed & more importantly to start elevating the
virtues that truly matter ( as opposed to what the world would be all to happy to sell her).
 
With all due respect…

I’m not sure books are the right way to reign in a four year old. It seems more likely that it’s her schedule during the day that’s the problem. She may not have been getting enough exercise or she may have been getting too little or too much sleep during the day.
 
Prayer. Pray a decade of the Rosary before bed.

Books? Any and all of the St. Joseph Picture Books.
 
I agree with the poster who said that books aren’t going to solve your problem, but I couldn’t help but offer a book suggestion too. 🙂

Treasure Box books–there are stories about St. Therese as a little girl in some of them. 👍

tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/474/keywords/treasure+box/

I loved reading about the saints as a girl and I often retold those stories to my younger brothers and sisters–sometimes the best stories don’t have to be read from a book! 👍
 
Well… being a Dad of four boys (7, 5, 3 and 22 months) they absolutely love wrestling/horseplay after dinner even if it’s only for 15-20 minutes. Makes all the difference in the world in their attitudes when it’s time to get ready for bed. Secret is to not wind them up too much right before hand so I aim to be done with about a 30 minute ‘cool down’ period before the bedtime assembly line rumbles into action.

Having a little girl might be a different story, then again, it may not. She may not go for the rough physical play, but maybe hide-and-seek or tag or even a walk with dad might put her in a good frame of mind.

When it comes to story time, I have read all my boys You Are Special by Max Lucado. Really a neat book and written to keep their interest while also teaching that God loves us and what the world tells us isn’t important in the slightest. I highly recommend it. I’ve had amazingly deep conversations with each of my oldest that were prompted by something in this story.
 
Glimpse_Ahead said:
here’s my situation , I have a 4 year old girl and it seems the only time I have to spend
with her ( besides Saturday & Sunday ) is the evenings during the week , because I work
long hours Monday through Friday. My wife is a stay at home mom and my mother-in-law
lives with us , my daughter is an only child and so she is around adults all the time , and
I’m seeing her seem to grow up too fast because of it. By the time I get home she is a
bundle of energy and wants to play all night ,** is there any good books that any of you
could recommend for a Dad like me ?** A story that is interesting to a 4 year old and as
a bonus – something that is strongly influenced by our beautiful Catholic faith , something
wholesome , maybe something based on the life of a Saint , or something like that , the
goal would be to get her calmed down before bed & more importantly to start elevating the
virtues that truly matter ( as opposed to what the world would be all to happy to sell her).
Click to expand...
My kids always got crazy when dh got home 🙂 No matter what we did during the day. They were happy/excited Dad was home!

I don’t have any title suggestions for you, but we have always read chapter books like Little House on the Prairie and the like. Just long enough to hold their attention, and pick back up the next night 🙂 Over time they sit longer and want to hear more and more! Even my dd, 13, still listens in when I read to our younger child.

So send your wife to the library (it’s my fave place 👍 ) and get some good books.

And for fun, we read No, David! Only I would sub my little guy’s name 😉 OMGosh, it so fit him, lol. amazon.com/No-David-Shannon/dp/0590930028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243972758&sr=8-1 There are actually a few David books, all very fun for us. But this one I liked so much I actually bought it! lol

HTH!
 
I have read my children Charlotte’s Web and Pippi Longstocking books one chapter at a time. They loved them. I also liked the TAN books mentioned above. They are not all one story - there are smaller stories and activities all in one book. You can choose to stop or go on to another story depending on the night. Sometimes we make it through a whole book, sometimes just a few pages.

Are you more interested in a longer book in which you’d read chapters, or a short book that can be finished in one night?

I bought “The Weight of a Mass” and it’s a great book. It’s a short picture book that can be read in one sitting. For that matter, she’s not too young for “A Princess and a Kiss”.
 
I raised two daughters. One of them was always ready for sleep by eight, but wide awake by six in the morning. The other was a night owl and preferred to sleep late. They’re still like that, even though they’re now 26 and 23!

I know it sounds unimaginative and lazy, but I highly recommend watching movies as a way to wind down. Reading books, playing games, wrestling, playing house or other “pretend” things, taking a walk outside–these activities can rile up a girl and make it hard for her to settle down. You know how women have a hard time concentrating on one thing at a time and shutting out distractions? Well, little girls are the same way!

Watching TV, on the other hand, is rather dull. Just pick a good “winding down” movie, not something that makes her hyper. Turn the lights off, cuddle up next to her on the sofa or in the Lazy Boy with a soft blanket, maybe have a little snack (something carbohydrate-y, like crackers) during the movie, and keep the sound from the TV at a fairly low volume. I’m guessing that once your daughter gets used to this routine, she’ll fall asleep during the movie.

And that’s the KEY–ROUTINE!!! If you do something different every night (shopping one night, yard work another night, playing in the yard another night, reading another night, etc.) that’s a sure-fire way to keep your child awake! Establish a routine and stick with it evening after evening, and you’ll find that your daughter will wind down more easily.

I’m recommending movies, but almost anything will do if it’s a routine. Books, a simple game, a prayer, a walk around the yard, a quick pick-up of the house, singing together–almost anything. But do it every night religiously. THAT’s the secret to helping a child wind down.

As for which movies, I highly recommend Dumbo from Disney for a four-year-old. Great story, great music. My younger daughter watched it almost everyday for a year. Lady and the Tramp is good, too. Stay away from anything with “bounce,” other than Winnie the Pooh stories (Tigger bounces, remember? But that’s OK.) But no rock music, no “get up and dance” music, nothing wild and hilariously funny, etc. And no dead mothers before bed! (Bambi,* Land Before Time,* etc.) And no dead friends before bed! (Bridge to Terabithia, etc.) And no dead pets before bed! (Old Yeller, The Three Live of Thomasina, etc.)

Both of my daughters were quite intelligent, but even my older daughter would have had a hard time with chapter books at age four. Both of the girls preferred picture books at that age, and it’s a good way to help them develop skills that will make them better readers. There are a lot of good picture books about God, religion, faith, etc. if you want to go with religious books. Try the Protestant bookstore if the Catholic bookstore in your town doesn’t have much selection. There are tons and TONS of children’s books in the Protestant bookstores. You can filter out anything that isn’t “Catholic,” but you’ll find that most of it is OK.

Good luck. You are lucky to have a daughter!
 
We have always read to our children at bedtimes also. Set up a routine–bath time, jammies, then storytime with Daddy. Get one of the ‘husband’ pillows to you can sit up right in her bed. I love the yellow hardback Saints book for children. Not sure of the exact title but it has one Saint per page with a picture and a prayer. I found a stash of old Little Golden books at a used book store and we read those (you can get on Amazon also), Dr Suess of course, chapters of chapter books–but often those are too exciting. I did more of that when they were a bit older. Absolute favorite bedtime story is “Cowboy Bunnies”. But I’m sure you’ll discover your own.
 
My mother complained I was wild and had too much energy at night also. My dad took me to the doctor and he asked him to give him a list of what I was being fed all day, and how much excercise I was getting, and how many hours of sleep.
Turned out in my case, my mother did not realize how much natural sugar was in all that fresh fruit she was giving me most of the day. 🙂
I’m not sure what christian books to recomend as I am not a christian, but I wonder if you dressed up as a bible character as you read a story, and perhaps had her dress up also it could be much more fun for her to enjoy the story that way.

Hope it works out for you.
 
Thanks so much to everyone of you that responded , you all had such good
suggestions , I appreciate it so much !
 
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