Day 1189 - The Long Good Night

When we moved to our new home, we used it as a way to shorten the good time ritual. At our old place, we read a book, did shadow puppets, chased a flashlight spotlight, waved good night in front of a mirror, cooked a meat loaf, defragmented the hard drive, and then finally put the kids to bed. Our new ritual is a story for each of them, a hug and a kiss, and defragmenting the hard drive.

The kids always try to procrastinate bedtime by doing and requesting some odd things. They will kick all of their blankets off their bed and then shout, "I'm cold! I'm cold!" They might occasionally pick their nose until a booger comes out and then shout, "I need a tissue!" They will pee in their overnight diaper a minute after we leave their bedroom and then shout, "Change my diaper!"

The newest maneuver Andrew is using to keep from sleeping is a pretty funny one. Just before we step out of the room, he will say, "Daddy! Mommy! I have to tell you something!" So we slowly turn around and ask with trepidation, "What do you want to tell us?"

And then Andrew will proceed to lay out what he's going to do after he wakes up. With all seriousness, he tells us with bated breath and excitement, "When I wake up tomorrow, I change my clothes and change my diaper and then I get milk and then I eat and then I brush my teeth and then I play with my cars then I want to blow bubbles and then watch tv and then I eat lunch and after I eat I play with McQueen and Mater and Chick Hicks and The King and we race and go fast, fast, fast and then I try to nap but I no like to nap so then I play some more and then I eat dinner and I want some goodies and I take a bath and watch YouTube and then brush teeth and go to sleep! That what I want to do!"

The good news about this is that Andrew is talking a lot more and enjoys sharing his thoughts and ideas with us. The bad news is that Andrew talks very slowly, and by the time he finishes telling us about his plans for the day, it's 1:15am. Perhaps a little espresso might be necessary to get everyone to bed earlier.