Who says bedtime can’t be funny
My youngest frequently cracks me up. As I mentioned back in late September on this blog, he likes to hold my hand and give himself a little massage on my nails before going to bed. Well, in the last two weeks that ritual has changed a little. About a half hour before bed he’ll ask me “hand” and pat on the couch for me to come sit by him. Then, when I sit down he’ll get up and go get some of his bedding (comforter and pillow), turn the living room light off and come back to the couch. At this point he gives his father his pillow and covers him with his blanket and tells him to go “night”. If my hubby picks up his head my son pushes it back down. If my hubby says anything my son says “sshhh”. It’s really funny, and it can be very hard not to laugh. Then, after my husband is still my son will finally sit down next to me and hold my hand. After a little while I can tell him it’s bed time and he’ll help me take his stuff back into his room and go to bed. Do your kids have bedtime rituals?
Filed Under: Family • This and That
Great stories!
Our bedtime routine for our son goes something like this:
Bath
Drink of water
Book
Drink of water
Book #2
Drink of water
Rock and talk about the day
Kiss the cat g’night
Kiss mommy g’night
Get tucked in by Daddy.
He’s in bed by 8 every night, and has been since 3 mos. (he’s almost 2 now). His routine has changed slightly (he now likes to be held and talked to about everything that happened during the day) but it’s still so crucial to him sleeping well.
Lindsey - thanks for visiting! That sounds sweet!
May sound boring but my boys both get a bedtime story regardless of how hard or long the day has been, they both get a cuddle and a kiss. They both get a treat once (maybe twice) a week like being allowed to stay up late to watch a film with us, late here being 8/9 o’clock as they are only 6 and 3 years old.
The little one insists on having me tuck his teddy monkey in with him when he goes down for the night and the eldest will not sleep unless I tell his teddy tigers to sleep quietly at the foot of the bed. Occassionaly he will get up and fetch me to tell his animals to be quiet because he can’t sleep if they are being noisy.
Bedtime has been a fight with my almost 4 year old. But we do the following:
Book
Prayer
Blow out the light
Songs
Sleep
Add in there some “I’m hungry/thirsty/have to go potty/want my back scratched/want to cuddle” and then you have a normal night for us.
Lisa’s last blog post..Worst Parents in the World
Lisa - My youngest has to kiss everyone before he’ll get in bed.
Milander - Not boring at all. Stories are great. That’s too cute that your little one’s animals are too noisy!
We do have rituals, but oddly enough, they are different for each child. My daughter’s routine is this (with me, anyway): She picks 2 books…one for HER to read to her bear (we’re working on reading skills and I discovered that this works WELL for her, otherwise she battles with me about reading out loud), and the other book is usually a chapter book in a series that I read to her. She reads to her bear, then I read a chapter to her. We then do “stuff”, which is our hugs and kisses routine…we hug, then kiss, then nuggle (nose kisses) then flutter (butterfly kisses), then we go back and forth with
Me: “Good Night, Sleep Tight”,
her: “Don’t let the bedbugs bite”,
Me: “but if they bite, squeeze them tight”
her: “and they won’t bite tomorrow night”
I turn on the nightlight in her bathroom (yes, my seven year old is blessed to have her own bathroom), turn on her music CD (we’ve played this lullaby CD for almost 5 years now!), turn off the lights and close the door. It never changes.
For my son, we get him settled in bed, lay down with him, read a story, (he’ll eventually get 2, I’m sure) and hugs and kisses, then we go through a million ways to say Goodnight (see ya later, bye, toodles, etc). I turn on his CD…a copy of his sister’s music! and close his door.
They go to bed at the same time every night (8:00 for the boy, 8:30 for the girl) and let me tell you, if we push to keep them up for any reason, they are MISERABLE.
I LOVE bedtime routines!
Linda’s last blog post..They’re their…
Thanks for visiting and sharing those Linda. We have another, once he’s finally in bed and ready to fall asleep. I tuck him in. I rub each of his hands once, I ask him what’s next, he says face, I say beautiful face and I touch his face and then I give him a kiss good night.
This is so adorable! I guess the little guy wants to make sure your husband gets to sleep.
We don’t have children yet, but I’m sure they’ll have little rituals.
Andrew Flusche, Virginia Lawyer’s last blog post..Get Homeowner’s Insurance For Your Protection