I think I made a mistake last night...

After I read Charlie his usual books last night, he kept begging for more. I didn't want to set a precedent where I read more than books than usual, so I made up a random story.

I told him about Charlie ("the world's greatest adventurer") and how he got a call on his phone from a little boy in Africa who couldn't sleep and so he flew across the ocean to Africa... but on the way he was attacked by the Blue Baron in his aircraft (clearly, the brother of the Red Baron). Then Charlie (the world's greatest adventurer) shot down the Blue Baron's airplane but he saved the Blue Baron when he was coming down in his parachute and then they became best friends. Then when he landed in Africa, the Blue Baron was an expert in sleep and helped the little boy fall asleep.

I was totally unprepared for the response. Charlie LOVED the story! He went bananas in a way he simply doesn't go when I read him a book. So I told him another story, which turned out to be about how Charlie's dad (i.e. me) fought a lion and defeated him then he rode on the lion's back and then they came across a tiger and a witch... but the witch turned out to be Charlie's mom (Mrs. Bee!) and the tiger turned out to be Smokey the Cat! When I revealed that the witch was really Charlie's mom and the tiger was really Smokey the cat... Charlie's jaw literally dropped and he gasped! It was a reaction that we have never ever gotten when reading him a book.

After that I was too tired, and so I told Charlie to tell *me* a story. He got soo excited and told me this really complicated story involving dragons that I didn't really understand but that quoted heavily from all the books we read him. Then he fell into a deep slumber... and when he awoke, the first thing he asked me to do was to tell him more stories!

So, now I'm wondering if anyone else tells stories to their LO... and how they balance story telling with book reading? Tonight Charlie didn't even want me to read him books, which is literally unprecedented... we went straight into the stories and then he fell into a deep sleep. I feel like I'm in uncharted territory!

Do you tell stories to your LO?