So as you might have read at the end of my last entry, the bedtime routine was still not going smoothly with Charlie last night. He was still playing his Mom for a fool and giving me a good work out! Hey, that's a great new idea for a work-out video or a new class at the Y. Put a tired toddler/preschooler in the front of the room and the object is to get him into a bed. I think I really have something here. We could call it 'Get Him to Bed' - and you not only get an amazing work out, but you practice techniques on how to get that child in his bed and STAY THERE.
I just do not understand, nor agree with the concept Jo Frost enforces in her book. How can one person possibly keep putting a child into their bed over and over and over again and not completely fall over from exhaustion or frustration. One of her episodes Jo talked into a mic in the mother's ear, feeding her words of encouragement. It was a two hour process until her boys were completely exhausted and fell asleep.
Tonight, my husband was sick with the flu. It was a beautiful fall day and I was outside with the boys all afternoon. Kyle and I did puzzles and colored together until Charlie woke up from nap. As soon as Charlie woke up, we played in the sandbox, we did our daily laps around the outside of the house and we spent a lot of time raking leaves and jumping in them. It was such a great afternoon and we had so much fun. I love this weather and I love my boys so much!
I fed the boys by 5:00pm, we played a little more and we were upstairs in the bath by 6:30pm. We were reading a book by 7:00pm and it was bedtime at 7:30pm. I was so proud of myself. I thought this would be a good test to see if it goes better earlier. But even with the earlier time, Charlie started flashing those crazy eyes at me and letting out that infectious giggle and down the hall he went.... back and forth.... running, laughing and playing. "To infinity and beyond!!!" He shouted down the hall in his Buzz Light Year Pajamas. The melt down was predicted and quick when I told him to come sit down and read the book with us. There were some consequences and a few discussions and he ended up sitting with Kyle and I to read a book....finally.
My patience was wearing thin when he had specific characters to sleep with. I stayed firm on only a couple of characters in his bed. I tried not to reason with him. I even cuddled with them for a while before actually putting them to bed. But he was not ready to settle down. I finally figured I would give up and let him fall asleep in the hallway if he wanted to. But again, I saw the look on the Supernanny's face....like I was a crazy person. So up I went and brought him back to bed. I said good night and left the room. Out he came right behind me, crying and running after me. This routine just kept going on for a while. Until, the last time I brought him in.
He seemed genuinely upset about something. I tried to talk to him so he would stop crying and I could understand what he was saying. We talked about our favorite parts of the day. We talked about playing in the leaves. He named all the colors we saw in the leaves. He just lit up and was so quiet and cute. It was during this conversation that he pulled the blanket up over himself, snuggled up with his Ariel doll and closed his eyes. He was still awake when I left. This conversation took about 2 or 3 minutes and he calmed right down. I loved talking with him about the day and having that one on one time with him.
So I just need to TALK TO HIM???? Maybe he feels like he does not get enough attention from me. Maybe the whole point of all this is just to get to ME. Am I being too full of myself here or could it really be the case? Could it just be me being totally oblivious???? I loved those quiet moments of time with him. If I had done that an hour earlier, would it have still worked the same??? Tomorrow night is a whole different story. Wish me luck.....
No comments:
Post a Comment