What I don't love is bed time. Hunter and I fight just about every night. Nothing seems to work with this kid. I've tried everything I can think of. Bedtime stories, singing songs, laying with him, rubbing his back, a combination of them together to create a routine, them on their own, prayers, watching an episode of a tv show before bed to calm him down...nothing. This kid will not stay in his bed long enough to be tired. He can wake up at 8am and not take a nap, and still have enough energy to fight with me until 10 pm. It's emotionally draining. Every night.
And then came the M&M Fairy. I don't know what she looks like, but she brings Hunter "m's" when he stays in his bed. Its worked off and on. I ask him at bed time if he wants the M Fairy to come visit. Of course he says yes, and then proceeds to tell me where she currently is. Frequently she's at the hotel (where I work), other times she's upstairs watching a movie. Sometimes I have to go wake her up because she's sleeping. At least he keeps track of her!
I find it quite humorous how it normally plays out though. Regardless of where she's at, I tell him I'll give her a call and see if she can come visit him, if he can stay in his bed. He happily agrees and then lays in his bed waiting, other times, not so much. If he's still in his bed when I check on him, I'll give him 3 M&M's, because 3 is his favorite number or something... And he's always excited about it, because the M Fairy came to see him. How does he not know it's me?
At nap time, I'll place a couple on his pillow for when he wakes up. The look on his face is priceless when he wakes up to find them! Like Christmas every day. But not every day, and not every night. I try to use the M fairy as a last resort, just because I don't like having to bribe him, especially with candy. After fighting for hours though....
What bed time routines do you use for your kids?
1 comment:
I couldn't go anywhere without giving my 2 yr. old a lollipop. I felt bad about having to resort to bribary but he was and is a high energy child that basically couln't sit still, so the lollipop did the trick. They were the really mini tootsie roll ones and he would babysit it so it would take him an hour to finish. Now 5 years later, I am happy to report that the bribary was short lived, he eventually forgot to ask for one and my kids rarely eat candy (only special occasion) So don't worry...you do what you have to at that age :)
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