K. I. S. S.? I wish!

Keep it simple, stupid!

I know that toddlers and pre-schoolers thrive on routine, but N's bedtime rituals are getting a little ridiculous. This is what happens EVERY night:

Things that NEED to be in the bed:
2 Pony Security Blankets
2 stuffed Ikea ferrets
2 different stuffed giraffes (they both rattle/jingle which is annoying)
regular pillow
bear pillow
down throw blanket
large egyptian linen swaddle blanket
large crocheted blanket
pink patchwork quilt

If any one of these things is missing from her bed, she WILL notice and you MUST find it. Sometimes she's carried it out of her room, sometimes it's just lost in the crazy jumble of toys and blankets. Either way, if it's not there, she's not sleeping. The list is only about half of what's in her bed, the rest is a semi-rotating gathering of toys and blankets that are crammed into her bed tent. There are nights that she gets it in her head that she needs a 4" tall piglet change purse that hangs out in her bed. Try finding that in the dark!

After we make sure everyone is in bed and ready to go to sleep, it's time for the routine.

Read a book in Mommy & Daddy's room, because D's sleeping and we can't do it there.

Make sure her fan and nightlight are both on.

Once in bed, we say the sleep rules:
1. Stay in bed.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Be very quiet.
4. Go to sleep.
5. If it's red, stay in bed. (this refers to her nightlight / toddler alarm clock, which also must be on)

Then it's time for prayers:
Now I lay me down to sleep... and also God is Great (the one you say before eating). I'm not sure how this got added in, but whatever.

Then, I sing her two songs:
The Beatles, All My Loving (Close Your Eyes)
and Mr. Moon (Before you judge, my mom used to sing it to me and I didn't think of changing the lyrics until it was too late, haha!)

After that, I have to hold up the sign language I Love You sign, and say "Goodnight, sweetheart." The very last thing is to lay in bed with her for more than 30 seconds, but less than 2 minutes. She doesn't like it if you  stay too long and she says "OK, please go away now."

While all of this can get a little annoying, especially finding all of her toys in bed, it works like a charm. If I follow the routine, she's good to go. The downside is that when we aren't at home, she has a very difficult time going to sleep and never naps.

The simple days. 1 Pony, 1 Ferret, no fuss!

D, on the other hand, I could chuck her in bed from the doorway and just go downstairs. (Of course, at her age, N was the same way!) We read her a book or two before bedtime, just because. For naps, I take her upstairs, hand her the bear blanket and cover her up. She'll fall asleep on her own in 5 or 10 minutes. If she's not sleepy, she'll talk to herself for 30 minutes before she settles down. I don't remember the last time she cried when I put her down to sleep. We've been super lucky with her. Also, A and I have always firm believers in sleep training, and protecting the girls' need to sleep and nap. The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child was our bible from when the girls were 4 months old and up. Whenever someone is going through a nap transition, or having trouble, I still refer back to it. I highly recommend it to every new parent, or to parents of older kids with sleeping or napping issues.

Anyway, I'm not complaining about N's routine. I think it's cute and only mildly annoying that she's so inflexible. It comforts her and gets her to sleep, so it's all good in my book! I've found that a well rested child (and a well rested parent) is much easier to deal with, so whatever it takes is worth it.

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say

I've been feeling pretty negative lately, so I haven't written anything. Although I do love a good venting session, I'd hate for this to turn into one long catalog of things that piss me off. So here are a few things that have made me happy the last two weeks:

N's Garden
This has turned out to be not only a great way to teach her about responsibility, it's also a great bribe to get her to take a nap. "If you don't take a nap, you can't water your babies!" Her cucumber seeds sprouted pretty early on and they're a few inches tall already. The peppers and squash have yet to poke their heads out of the dirt. I hope that at least a few of each sprout. It's been about two weeks, but I'm not giving up on them yet. She was SO excited when she first saw her babies "growing up."

The very first sprouts!

They're getting so big!

Warm Weather on the Horizon

I'm so stoked for the weather to get nice and STAY that way! We went to the park last weekend while it was sunny and warm. N loved running around and D had a blast playing in the mulch and going down the slides. I want to get motivated to spring clean and pack away all the winter clothes. Coats, hats, mittens and boots take up a ton of room when there's four people in the house! Of course, it's supposed to snow tomorrow, so I'll have to wait on that one.

Sleep

Sleeping in makes me so happy it's a little ridiculous. I don't get to do it too often, so when it happens it makes my day.

Naps

Related to previous post, but actually referring to my girls. I am insanely grateful that my girls nap. It's the middle of the afternoon right now and BOTH of my girls are sleeping, and will most likely stay that way until 4pm. I absolutely love that, and the fact that they nap keeps me sane. I realize that I'm very lucky that my girls nap so well. I attribute it to genetics (see previous item on list!) and the fact that we were sleep nazis when they were babies. The whole napping thing definitely limits my options when I want to get out of the house, but the flip side of the coin is certainly a peaceful one. I'm willing to take the trade-off because they won't be little forever. One day, the naps will come to an end.

I wish that these things stayed foremost in my head all the time, but the fact is that I often get overwhelmed with everything else. The "everything else" being temper tantrums, dishes, laundry, temper tantrums, waking up too early, sick pets, temper tantrums, D's poo issues, temper tantrums and ummm... oh yeah, temper tantrums. N is getting a little out of hand. I sincerely try to stay calm and rational but her hissy fits drive me to the brink. I can see her just about exploding with frustration before she lets one loose and I try to talk to her, but it never works. It could be over something silly, like she can't fit a square peg into a round hole, or something far more serious (in her eyes) like D taking a toy or not getting to watch TV. I do see her handling them a little better now than she did a year ago. For instance, I've seen her think about hitting D and then choosing not to. Instead, she hits herself or seeks out a bin of toys to dump out and throw around. Thanks. I can only hope that she learns some self control soon, because she is about driving me nuts!!

Often, I often feel like the complaints outnumber the nice things to say, and I hate feeling that way. Hopefully the beautiful spring weather that is just around the corner will help thaw my patience out.