Bedtime: Rounds 1-4
Last night's bedtime was chaos. After swimming lessons, Marty had to return to work so it was just the kids and me at bedtime. Sophie hadn't taken a very long nap in the afternoon, so she was starting to seem very tired around 8:00, so it seemed like a good time to begin.
Bedtime: Round 1
After a little bribery (i.e. Scooby Doo) Martin agreed to hang out in our bedroom until I got Sophie to sleep. I gave Sophie some milk, and hoped that she would fall asleep easily. After she finished her milk, she sat straight up, hopped off my lap, and ran out of the room. She looked in our room for Martin, but he wasn't there. We discovered him in the living room, sprawled out on the chaise lounge, looking out the window and eating a big bowl of pepperoni.
Bedtime: Round 2
After the kids polished off all the pepperoni, I lured them back into my bed with the promise of more Scooby Doo. It turns out that there are some new episodes of Scooby Doo, and this time the gang was in Italy tracking down a phantom gladiator. They kept making jokes about wireless connections and Stairmasters which kept my interest, despite the kids constant distractions as they apparently trained for a future in All-Star Wrestling. At 8:45, I took Sophie in her room to try again with a little more milk and told Martin to stay put. A few minutes later, he kicked in the door to her room and ran circles around us wearing a pair of Marty's shorts on his head singing "look at me, you're not a poopyface" (since I've banned use of that word at our house he seems to think that if he prefaces it with "not" it's okay to use).
Bedtime: Round 3
I promptly yelled at Martin to "GET OUT AND GO WATCH SCOOBY DOO" which made me think that somehow my mouth had been taken over by someone else. I wrapped Sophie tightly in her blanket like I was swaddling a newborn, and started bouncing, rocking, shushing... all the old tricks that worked great when she was tiny and new. Around 9:15 she finally dozed off. I returned to my room to check on Martin only to find him jumping off the bed while wearing a headband around his head like he was practicing to be in Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" video.
Bedtime: Round 4
I carried Martin into his room and told him to pick out a few books, one of which must not contain vehicles of any kind. At 9:45, after two timeouts for launching pillows across the room and kicking the wall, I shut off the light. I spent the next half hour saying no to requests for popcorn, water, medicine, a sandwich, more books, sleeping in my room, and checking on Sophie. Finally, at 10:30 he was sleeping. I went into the kitchen to send an IM recap to Marty and found a half-eaten container of steak on the counter - apparently consumed sometime during Round 3.
I hope that Marty is home tonight for bedtime. If not, I better go pick up some more pepperoni.
Bedtime: Round 1
After a little bribery (i.e. Scooby Doo) Martin agreed to hang out in our bedroom until I got Sophie to sleep. I gave Sophie some milk, and hoped that she would fall asleep easily. After she finished her milk, she sat straight up, hopped off my lap, and ran out of the room. She looked in our room for Martin, but he wasn't there. We discovered him in the living room, sprawled out on the chaise lounge, looking out the window and eating a big bowl of pepperoni.
Bedtime: Round 2
After the kids polished off all the pepperoni, I lured them back into my bed with the promise of more Scooby Doo. It turns out that there are some new episodes of Scooby Doo, and this time the gang was in Italy tracking down a phantom gladiator. They kept making jokes about wireless connections and Stairmasters which kept my interest, despite the kids constant distractions as they apparently trained for a future in All-Star Wrestling. At 8:45, I took Sophie in her room to try again with a little more milk and told Martin to stay put. A few minutes later, he kicked in the door to her room and ran circles around us wearing a pair of Marty's shorts on his head singing "look at me, you're not a poopyface" (since I've banned use of that word at our house he seems to think that if he prefaces it with "not" it's okay to use).
Bedtime: Round 3
I promptly yelled at Martin to "GET OUT AND GO WATCH SCOOBY DOO" which made me think that somehow my mouth had been taken over by someone else. I wrapped Sophie tightly in her blanket like I was swaddling a newborn, and started bouncing, rocking, shushing... all the old tricks that worked great when she was tiny and new. Around 9:15 she finally dozed off. I returned to my room to check on Martin only to find him jumping off the bed while wearing a headband around his head like he was practicing to be in Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" video.
Bedtime: Round 4
I carried Martin into his room and told him to pick out a few books, one of which must not contain vehicles of any kind. At 9:45, after two timeouts for launching pillows across the room and kicking the wall, I shut off the light. I spent the next half hour saying no to requests for popcorn, water, medicine, a sandwich, more books, sleeping in my room, and checking on Sophie. Finally, at 10:30 he was sleeping. I went into the kitchen to send an IM recap to Marty and found a half-eaten container of steak on the counter - apparently consumed sometime during Round 3.
I hope that Marty is home tonight for bedtime. If not, I better go pick up some more pepperoni.
I am exhausted from just READING this! You are doing a great job and some day bedtime won't be so stressful or time consuming. When they are old enough for slummer parties it will begin again!
Reply to this
Yeah, you better pick up some wine for yourself, too
Reply to this
"(since I've banned use of that word at our house he seems to think that if he prefaces it with "not" it's okay to use). "
Awesome. Don't take your eyes off that one for a second!
Reply to this