Our household is not unlike most others with small children in that when evening comes the bedtime ritual kicks in. Our girl have a pretty strict bedtime that lands them in bed by 8:30 PM.
The ritual actually starts right after dinner and, depending on the evening, begins with bath time followed by pajamas and then an hour or so playing with mom and dad. Once 8:00 comes around everyone chills for 20 minutes with an episode of Backyardigans after which the two year old will typically turn the television off herself and head for the stairs and ultimately her room. This is when the three year old begins whining and questioning whether or not it is really bedtime.
The two year old will often be found pacing in the upstairs hallway seemingly annoyed that her big sister is causing such a ruckus and postponing the act of her being tucked in and kissed good night. If the big sisters whining and claims that she is “too tired to walk up the stairs” continue for too long the two year old will just put herself to bed. The two year old isn’t much for stories at bedtime, she prefers them in the morning. When she’s ready for bed she’s just ready and you’d best not get in the way.
With the three year old, however, the process has just begun.
Once the three year old has made it into her room the act of picking a story to read begins. Depending on her mood she will pick the story or demand, with a fair amount of drama, that either her mother or I pick the story. We read the story with as much theatrical prose as we can muster and the girl finally climbs into her bed. I’m guessing this is where many rituals stop. Not ours.
The next step involves singing songs. Not one or two but a minimum of three and occasionally as many as five. The girl always picks the number and while we used to participate in the singing the girl has recently preferred that we not sing. I try not to take this personally. On rare occasions she allows me to sing the song though it cannot be one we “know”. This is a very special song and is simply called the “your day” song. This is when I get to recount her day in song highlighting the various activities and nuances of the day and always ending with a line about bedtime as she rolls over onto her belly and ask to be covered up. I rather enjoy this.
Tonight she changed things up a bit and sang the “your day” song herself. While it became clear the song wasn’t about her day it was very entertaining.
It seems that someplace a polar bear was caught by some fisherman in a net and the polar bear was very sad indeed. He thought that he would never be free of the net but it turns out the fishermen were nice and upon freeing the polar bear they returned him to his igloo. The problem was the igloo was not his own but instead was home to a snowman who made the best milkshakes and preferred serving them while dressed in a pink and blue gown. Once the polar bear had his fill of milkshakes and conversation with the snowman he asked the fishermen to take him back to his igloo which they promptly did. The polar bear was very happy though tired and went to sleep right away.
With the end of this story the girl asked to have the covers pulled to her neck and off to sleep she went.
I stood in her doorway for a moment wondering what we did to be so blessed by these girls. Glancing at my watch the hands showed it was 8:50 PM. With that I silently close the door and another day is behind us.
Goodnight girls. Sleep tight.
Lovely!
so sweet!
amys last blog post..Show ‘em how we do it
Thanks amy…
That is amazingly cute! Your daughter is so creative and obviously inspired. Bedtime rituals are the best – as long as they don’t get out of hand and do end up with a child who remains firmly tucked in bed. I used to love making up stories for my girls, starring themselves. They’d fly off with dragons, shrink down to the size of pixies and explore worlds under the mushrooms, discover a secret door in their own bedroom or sometimes chase their little brother through the store while mom and dad were not paying attention. They loved it. This ended a few years back, once they got to be “above” it all. But it holds fond memories for me. Thanks for sharing yours!
Toms last blog post..Dad’s Words of Wisdom
Thanks Tom. The made up stories are the absolute best. I’ll often ask my daughter something silly like, “How many penguins did you see on bicycles today?”. She will look at me quizzically for a moment and launch into a story about those penguins and the adventures on their bikes. It truly is magical.
Chucks last blog post..Polar bears prefer milkshakes
Uuuugh, beyond cute.
Those eyes, seriously, how do you go to work everyday?
xbox4nappyrashs last blog post..Did I roast a kitten on a spit?
You know xbox, it isn’t always easy. If you look closely at our door trim you will find the impressions my fingers have made over the years as I pull myself forcefully through its opening. Id much rather stay home.
Chucks last blog post..Polar bears prefer milkshakes
That was an adorable story. It amazes the rentention their little minds have and the ability to create the most fantasic stories and adventures. There are times during bedtime that I have sat with a smile for what feels like forever because of a story my son has made up back to me because he wanted to read me a book to sleep.
Thanks for sharing Chuck..
Kims last blog post..There Is No Such Thing As Bad Luck
Kim – I know just what you mean. The three year old will often read her Mom a bedtime story when she has come off a third shift at the hospital.
Thats so funny…very good story. Sounds better than most of the books I have read lately, to be honest. BTW, if it makes you feel better, I’m right there with you on the ritual continuation part. Ours involves at least 20 additional minutes of fanning her with a book. Don’t ask.
Matts last blog post..No, We’re Not Mad At You.
Matt – Nice to know we aren’t alone. Ok, I won’t ask.
Very blessed indeed Chuck. I know exactly how you feel.
Jeremy (Discovering Dad)s last blog post..Ask Discovering Dad – Learn More About Dads
Thanks for commenting Jeremy!
It’s cute that she has her own routine, but most do. However ours thinks up many ways to get out of going to bed. Mostly through trauma she goes through sometimes. We’ve found that the Backyardigans and others are not the most ideal to settle down rambunctiousness and may stir things up upon bedtime. This site has the Backyardigans products & songs, but I think they also have Caillou with his “Goodnight Grandma and Grandpa … Goodnight Teddy too…” so this is a little bit more toned down for bed time.
Oddly enough, my 3 year old requested that I sing a song for her before bed for the first time today. Her request, the Dora The Explorer theme song. The sad part is that I was actually able to sing the whole song for her from memory. The things that parenthood does to us (I could say the same thimg had she requested the Sponge Bob theme song). Anyway, I’m right there with you having a 18 month old boy and a 3 year old girl.