Bedtime Blahs, Part II

How did it go last night, you may ask? Well, lemme tell ya.

Rae and I got in bed at 7:30 as planned, her nighttime "check-off list" completed. We read and I got up at 8pm and told her she could continue to read, but had to stay in bed. I went downstairs, Matthew was asleep on the couch. So I carried him up to bed and proceeded to fix myself a bite to eat (seems I missed out on dinner in all of this). I decided at 8:30 to peek in on Rae and see how she was doing. Big mistake! Seriously now, if she weren't fine she would have gotten up or called for me, right? Oh but that wasn't good enough for me. I peeked in on her and she had put her book down and was laying there, almost asleep. She saw me and reached for me, and asked where Matthew was. I told her he was asleep and she asked me to get in bed with her. When I told her no, she began to cry. So, of course, I got in bed with her and she was asleep within 15 minutes. So I guess all in all, it wasn't HORRIBLE for the first try, right? Needs improvement though.

Tonight, perhaps a different story. Rae and I didn't get home from dance until about 6:15pm, at which time I proceeded to fix dinner AND give her a bath at the same time. Start the food, run up the stairs, start the bathwater. Back down, stir stir, back up, wash wash Up, down, up down. You get the picture. (Note to self: Dance nights should be Pizza night!) I did manage to get her clean and didn't burn the dinner. A major accomplishment on my part I believe!

After dinner she had to do homework and get ready for bed. It's 8pm now and she missed out on "reading time together". She's in her bed reading by herself, Matthew's in his bed reading (although he's been up twice within the past 15 minutes, now he's singing, so who knows what's gonna happen there.)

To be continued....

(45 minutes later...) Well, well, well. Not only did Rachael turn her light out after 30 minutes, but she's asleep! Unbelievable. Matthew is still awake, but he hasn't gotten up again. I went to the door and could hear him "reading" out loud to himself, but I didn't DARE let him see me. This is amazing. I can't believe he's still awake, but it shouldn't be long now.

I know, it won't work out this way every night, but at least now I hope I can relax and know that they CAN do it.

Yea for them!

OK, so it's 9:14pm. Matthew had been back in his room for an HOUR by himself. That's got to be a record for him. So of course, I went in there. Bless his heart, he was sitting there on his little bunk bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, barely able to keep his eyes open. I cleared him a spot and he put his head on the pillow. I rubbed his back and I swear it took him 5 minutes to pass out. All I could think was how beautiful he was. His little eyes getting heavier and heavier, cuddling his little blue elephant. Such a baby still, but growing up so fast! Then, of course I snuck in to Rae's room. She was all cuddled up in bed, surrounded by the kitties. Such an angel.

So, I don't care what anyone says. I consider tonight a success. Now, I can go watch all those shows I won't turn on when the kids are awake! Thank goodness for DVR! :)

Goodnight.