Recently Ava is going through this phase where, after we put her and Charlie to bed, she sneaks back down the stairs to see what ‘mommy and daddy time’ is all about. Maybe she thinks she’s going to stumble in on us making a big heroin deal or having some Eyes Wide Shut party in the living room with the other neighborhood parents. But alas, we’re usually eating dinner off the footrest, my wife in her yoga pants and me in my stained white t-shirt, so I guess we’re built to disappoint.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t deter her from coming down to join us, manipulating my wife and I with one-liners like ‘my tummy isn’t full yet’ or ‘my knees hurt, I can’t walk back up the stairs’. We play into it for a little while, but once she breaks into a sleep-deprived, deliriously loud tomahawk dance around the living room and I can no longer hear the American Idol performances, but rather only see Nicki Minaj feather her extensions back with witch nails — it’s time for Ava to go to bed. Again.
Last night, we cut a pretty exclusive deal. She said she’d only go to sleep if she could wear her new shoes. Normally we’re not big negotiators, nor am I a big fan of anyone donning footwear in bed, but the last few weeks of my life seem to have become a revolving door of ‘pick your battle’ moments. So we green-lit the shoes. If this meant that I could eat a popsicle with a hand in the waistband of my pants in silence, then so be it.
She clicked the heels of her new Seychelles together three times and as much as she wanted to go home, her exhaustion from dancing and deal-making overpowered the magic shoes…and only got her to the top of the steps.
Stay classy, girlfriend. Sleep tight.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Anyone else have trouble keeping their kids in bed?
Bedtime – more battles here than pretty much anything else. Our rule is that we don’t care if you go to sleep. You just have to be quiet and in bed. No, it doesn’t always work, but it’s a guidepost the kids understand. It’s (almost) cute when they are toddlers but my 7 year old daughter is getting to be a right pain in the ass. Picking your battles, man, sometimes that’s all you can do.
You crack me up daily! My teenagers still wander down during mommy/daddy time so no hope to give you here. Trying to balance I love you dearly with get the heck out of here.
My dad had magical power at bedtime. All he had to do was tap his fingernail (three times) on his wristwatch and point to the hall toward our bedrooms. We vanished.
I failed to inherit his powers.
Oh man! I feel you on this one! Wyatt’s new M.O. is that he isn’t tired before 9:30 or 10 pm. Therefore, Scott and I are going to bed at the same time as him and not having any “us” time. Wyatt and Ava also seem to be taking notes from each other. “I’m still hungry” “My knees hurt” “My belly hurts”. All of those are uttered on a nightly basis. It’s become sadly a choose-your-battle kind of thing and we’ve chosen to save ourselves the fight and just try to ride out this hopefully-not-too-long-lasting phase. Time-outs don’t work, and negotiating doesn’t work. So for now, we just all go to bed at the same time. Good luck, old friend!!
Same thing at our house. Jaden needs a snack, needs a different snack, needs water, needs to go to the bathroom, why does mommy get to stay up late, that’s not fair, what are you watching, i need to get something, i’ll be really fast, i just want to be able to go into jacksons room i’ll be really quiet and not wake him up, there’s a scary noise, i’m not tired, i had a nightmare (this is after being in his room 1/4 of a second). this is every night. usually by 9pm and i see my one hour of “me/us time” fleeting away i will say if you come out of your room one more time i will lock it. door doesn’t even lock but he hasn’t figured that out yet.
Color-coordinated shoes and PJs. Clearly the two go together.
I remember falling asleep on the stairs as a kid. My daughter’s done it once or twice two. When I go to try it now, it kind of makes me sad how impossible it is for an adult.
This made me laugh!! Our 3 year old is sick, and has decided 2am is the new 6am this week…. our negotiating skills are not so sharp in the middle of the night.
Sorry to be “that guy”, but our kids have been really good about staying in bed. Granted there is a 5 year spread between all 3 of them so we can easily double team them w/ intimidation into staying put.
Question – was she still there in the morning, or did you transfer her to her crib? I’m imagining a Meatballs scenario, with the camp director waking up floating on the lake.
Hey ThatGuy (haha)–Ava was great sleeping straight through the night from six weeks old until just recently… I am just thinking her bedtime is too early and she’s genuinely not tired yet! This is a brand new thing and at 3 1/2 I’m impressed she’s just now starting to get up and move about. 🙂
I am a mother of a 4 month old, struggling with my first week back to work after maternity leave, with a husband who has now taken over as a stay at home dad. Until now our little guy has slept 10 hours straight each night with a little help from a snug-a-bunny swing and a tight swaddle. We are weening him off both this week. I’m sure my husband would say I planned my return to work perfectly 🙂
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