Day 1551 - YouTube to Sleep

The nightly ritual for the kids is as follows:

1)  Take a bath.
2)  Spill water all over the bathroom floor.
3)  Get dressed in PJs.
4)  Bedtime snack.
5)  Smear bedtime snack all over PJs.
6)  Get dressed in new PJs.
7)  Watch two YouTube selections each.
8)  Get pissed off because they only got to watch two YouTubes each.
9)  Brush teeth.
10)  Get toothpaste drool all over PJs.
11)  Get dressed in new PJs.
12)  Storytime in bed.
13)  Procrastinate bedtime for 30-45 minutes.

It can be a rather lengthy and frustrating process, but at least we have invested heavily in multiple PJs.

We started to allow the kids to watch a few YouTube videos before bedtime because we didn't want them to watch a full-length television show, but it did provide us about ten minutes of quiet time for us to clean up the house and down several brandy snifters.

There are occasions when the kids try to prolong their television watching by demanding that Mommy and Daddy pick a YouTube video too.  But how many times can someone watch The Evolution of Dance or Charlie Bit My Finger?  Heh heh.  That silly kid let Charlie bite his finger AGAIN.  Hehehehehe.

A few nights ago, Andrew became very angry because he wanted me to pick a YouTube video.  I told him I did not want to pick a video because it was time for bed.  This did not sit well with little Andrew.  He crossed his arms and made a sour Richard Nixon face.

So instead of being a typical parent and enforcing my parental might upon the powerless child, I did something a little off-center...as is the way I do most things in my life.  I went downstairs, quickly put together a short video, ran back upstairs, and told Andrew I would pick a YouTube video about this Cars 2 toy that Andrew has:

Andrew was a little stunned and shocked by what he saw.  Afterwards, I stared at Andrew and said, "Andrew.  Time to go to sleep."  And then Andrew gave a little smile and chuckle, and ran upstairs to his bedroom.

So the moral of this story is that with a little creativity, ingenuity, and an extra forty-five minutes to record, edit, and upload a YouTube video, you can teach your child to mind their parent.