i don’t know about you, but bedtimes, for me, are the hardest time of the day.
by the time dinner is made, cleaned up, baths are given, and mommy’s been “on” all day long, i’m just, frankly—tired.
but it is also, the time when those monsters smell the sweetest, have the squishiest skin and slobberiest kisses.
there are many nights that Brother will forget all his manly-i’m-too-tough-and-grouchy demeanor and say “aww” and lean over for a big hug fest with Sister.
those moments make it oh so sweet.
we’ve had a really consistent nighttime routine since the kids were babies. and it includes bath (most nights), a story, prayers, and then songs. this is my favorite one to sing to them right now– “I Will Lie Down and Sleep” tune by Steve Green based on Psalm 4:8 . a new addition to our routine is that Sister has to tuck in EVERY. SINGLE. stuffed animal/car/toy–complete with pillow and blanket.
jon and i take turns with the bedtime routine and we aim to be finished with it all between 7:00-7:30. sidenote: early bedtimes are the best thing ever!
also, our kids share a room and have since Brother was about 6 months old. we tried to switch them to their own rooms last week and let’s just say IT DID NOT GO WELL. they love being together and talking and singing in the morning. we’re going to let them stay together until one or both of them decides they’d rather not.
speaking of mornings, Sister was getting up at crazy times a week or so ago and we did the old “don’t start yelling for us until 7″ trick. worked like a charm and at 7:00 am on the dot, the yelling proceeds. i’ll call that a “win.”
the numbers have to match before she can call for us to come get her. she has books and toys that she can quietly play with until her clock says 7. it only took 2 days for her to catch on and has been doing great for over a week!
I think it is so sweet that they love sharing a room so much!
Sounds like a great bedtime routine! I wouldn’t want my own room either (it’s like they are havin’ a little sleepover every night)! I love that clock idea too; very cool!
that is amazing that you made that happen. the 7am thing! we have given many warnings to our kids who have gotten up at 4:30-5 am sometimes ready to play. a few weeks ago, we heard someone running downstairs at 3amish then we heard the computer going. we told her to go back to bed, but were too tired to mess wtih it. by morning she had printed out at least 60 blues clues characters on our computer. haha. yeah, that was annoying. our fault for being too lazy to put her back to bed i guess!