onetiredmama: Bedtime Stories

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A cyclone descends on our house every night around 7:30 as I try to wrangle the kids upstairs for bed.

Pat works the night shift, so I'm alone to hustle them in by their bedtime, which happens to be mine, too -- 8 pm. No prime time for this family! (American Idol? Never seen it.) Now, I say cyclone, because it feels like a nightime storm swoops us from the family room up to our bedrooms with arms flailing and debris strewn about in our path, and finally drops us into bed.

I've got two unwilling kids to get into PJ's (although Jack has announced he's only sleeping in his undies these days.) They're in an "I hate baths" mode, and they're always devastated by whichever game, play scenario or show must come to an end by the arrival of bedtime. Somehow, it's a huge surprise each night when I announce -- well in advance of the actual dreaded hour -- that it's time for bed; like tonight might be the night we don't go to bed at all. I feel like an evil Fairy Godmother who has descended merely to quash their fun and frivolity. Perhaps if I wore a crown and developed a scary cackle, I could make it a little more interesting for us all, (or at least for me.) It's a three step process, really; dragging, cleaning and tucking. That is, the dragging upstairs of the children, the cleaning of said offspring, and then the elaborate tucking-in rituals we have developed for each of them.

Yeah, these kids look like they're ready for bed.

Usually Riley goes down first, while Jack tries to sneak in a final few minutes with Thomas the Train in his bedroom. After washing up and brushing our teeth, we have to turn on the night light and her "birdies" (a sound machine with birds chirping -- you have to remember, she is a cat.) Then we "rock like a baby" in the rocking chair and sing "Rock a Bye Baby," and she says "try again," after each round. Next, I "float her like a kitty" into her crib and hand her her "kitty juice" in a special sippie cup. Pink Elephant and White Kitty (the kitty of the week) better be in there too, or it's a mad dash around the house until she settles down. Then, I "leave the door open like a cracker!" and she usually settles down. Next it's time to put an end to Jack's train play, put up with his pouts and get him settled into bed.