Bedtime used to be a relatively painless process - eat dinner, bathe kids, brush teeth, let them race down the hall to the mailbox, play, read books, sing songs, lights out and nighty night at 8. I may have taken the ease of it for granted...
These days, it is quite a different story. Teddy learned how to climb out of his crib over Christmas, and now that he is back to his healthy self (after Influenza A and double ear infections) he has taken to mastering his newfound skill. The bedtime routine has remained the same... the nighty night part, not so much!
Think of your patience like a piece of bubble gum. You're doing fine just chewing away and then you have to go and blow a bubble. You stretch the gum out with your tongue to make it a bit thinner and blow a little air into it. As you continue to blow air, the bubble grows larger and the gum itself gets thinner. At some point, the amount of air in the bubble outweighs the strength of the ever-thinning bubble gum and it pops. My patience bubble popped tonight!
Teddy and Natalie share a room. Natalie is afraid of the dark. Teddy is obsessed with outlets. For his safety there are no nightlights in the room. The closet light gets turned on. The closet door gets cracked. Problem solved. Solved. Past tense.
Teddy climbs out of crib. Teddy goes into closet. Teddy plays with trucks. Loud trucks. Nattie joins him. She starts trying on all her dress up clothes. ALL her dress up clothes.
Mommy gets smart. Mommy puts every single toy from the room into the closet. Mommy pushes the dresser up against the closet door. No toys. No distraction. Natalie cries because she is scared. Mommy takes a small flashlight and hangs it from the pushpin holding up her artwork above the door. Mommy pats herself on the back for her ingenuity. Too soon.
With no toys and minimal light, Natalie and Teddy come out to see what Mom and Dad are doing. Mommy gets kiddos back in room. Mommy puts the doorknob lock on interior doorknob. Kids are essentially locked in - don't call Social Services on me, Natalie can open door with lock :) Mommy sits down to relax.
Natalie and Teddy get out of bed and begin training for the Olympics. They run from one side of the room to the other, slamming into the headboard of Natalie's bed. (Mommy is so thankful Auntie Jenn made a fabric covered foam headboard.) They climb up the dresser and try to long jump over to Natalie's bed. They both get into the crib and jump like they are on a trampoline. Daddy goes in. They get back up. Mommy goes in. They get back up. Daddy goes in. Punishment is threatened. They get back up. Daddy goes in. Punishment is given. They get back up. Daddy goes to bed frustrated. Mommy goes crazy.
By 11:30, Teddy is rocking with Mommy and Natalie is laying with Daddy. Both asleep. At last.
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I am thankful for every minute that I have with my kiddos as crazy as they are, please don't get me wrong. But we've all had moments where our patience is stretched thin and we aren't sure how much more air this bubble gum can take!
In my late night internet surfing I came upon this and I literally laughed out loud, immediately smacking my hands over my mouth so as not to wake the sleeping angels! If you think you are having a bad day, check this out!
You've got to click on the word "this" you dullard! :)
Oh Sarah, this is right on! I feel you. This was last night for us. Oh, make that the last 3 months. With my two girls, things just worked so smoothly. We thought we must have been the best parents EVER. ha! Then my little boy came along....oh my, he has rocked our world. In a good way of course. ;) Wow, bedtime is a chore. With all them lately. But he seems to be the little pot stirring 3 year old. Apparently, he's scared of his room. Apparently, he likes to throw fits. Hmmm, and then when we put him in bed with his sisters, it is play time. The days of saying goodnight and then plopping my tired bum on the couch to catch up on e-mail or watch a show are kind of on hold. So, from one mom to another...here's a mommy fist pump .... ;) Oh, and that link "This"...HILARIOUS. I have from 7 to 7:30 a.,m by myself ...in the dark morning here before I wake my girls up for school and so I try to be VERY quiet. If 3 year old boy wakes up early, things are all over. It was hard to not be loud with laughing while watching that. Gosh, it was good. Thanks for the laugh. And for sharing.
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