Bedtime Battles

Like most toddlers, mine fights bedtime. He comes by it honestly; he’s a night owl like his Momma and Daddy. Granted, some of it is dictated by Mommy and Daddy’s schedule. We go into the office a little later, which means we leave a little later, so dinner isn’t usually until 6:30. Then there’s bath, downtime (hey, I gotta get my snuggles in!), and finally, bedtime. We aim for 8:30, but many nights it’s closer to 9:00. And when we’re not on a school schedule? Fugehddabout it. . .he’s happily awake until after 9:30. Now, don’t worry, he also usually sleeps in. If we don’t have to wake him up for school, he’ll often sleep until 8:30 or 9 in the morning (please don’t throw things at me – I have plenty of Mommy guilt about how late he’s up at night).

Taking the perfection out of bedtime

Everyone has seen those commercials with a happy mom perfectly perched on the edge of her child’s bed, reading to a precious little one at bedtime. You know, the ones where the mom has a ridiculous amount of energy for it being late in the day and is wearing a coordinating outfit that is devoid of spit-up or a little bit of sweet potatoes from dinner? And I swear the child in the commercial has not one trace of stickiness or attitude.

It’s that picturesque bedtime reading that has caused me much grief over the years. Being an avid reader, I was so excited to start reading more than picture books to my oldest son, Max. I had envisioned sitting at his bedside, reading him books as he drifted off to sleep or asked me questions about the characters. Then I would kiss him goodnight and turn out the lights. Aaaah.