Andrew was overactive tonight. After we kissed him good night and left the bedroom, Andrew began to run, jump, and construct several Ikea bookshelves while revealing his stash of Gerber Red Bull Jr cans.
I am trying very hard not to lose my patience and temper with the kids so I have relied a lot more on diversion and reverse-psychology. Tonight, I decided to try diversion.
"Andrew, you won't be able to go to sleep if you don't calm down. Do you want to try and play a game?" I asked.
Andrew's eyes lit up. "Game! Okay! I like games!"
"First, you have to lie down in bed," I said.
After gulping down the last bit from his Red Bull can, Andrew jumped into bed.
"Great!" Now here comes the double combo of diversion and reverse-psychology. "Here's how you play the game. You lie down in bed, and I'll lie down on the sofa. The first person to say anything loses the game. Do you understand?"
"I'm going to be the winner!" Andrew exclaimed.
"Here we go. One...two...three..." And then there was quiet in the room. I peeked up from the sofa, and I saw both Emma and Andrew lying still in bed. All I could think was, "I am such an amazing parent!"
Five seconds past.
Ten seconds past.
Fifteen seconds past.
Holy s#!t! This thing is really going to work.
And then at the twenty second mark, Andrew pops up from bed and screams, "POO-POO! I lose! HAHAHA!"
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