By: Bethan Phillips
It would be grand if this place, this TIMEOUT, really existed. Like a giant pause button to take us out of HERE and land us in THERE. But instead...
"I don't want it to be bedtime! I want it to be sun time!"
"Sorry sweet heart. The sun is already in bed. You need to go to bed too."
"Mom, I don't want it to be bedtime! Can we snuggle?"
"Time to potty and brush your teeth."
"I don't want to brush my teeth!"
"Ok. But we are going to potty and brush our teeth. Even when we don't want to."
"Mom. I want to play."
"I hear you honey. I want you to play too, but we are out of time for play. We are in time for bed."
At bedtime some of the things I say are just a huge puzzle of language that my daughter tries to figure out. Sometimes I do it on purpose. It will distract her thinking about what I'm saying and in the meantime, she goes potty, she lets me brush her teeth, and by the time she looks at me again with a question, I have one leg of her jammers on her wiggly body.
Sometimes, the words just flow out of me in non-sense.
Sometimes, I can't think of what to say.
"Every night we have bed time. Every night is the same." Except it isn't, is it?
"Mom I want to sleep with you!"
"You get to start in your own bed and we'll see where we all land in the morning."
Like magically, we float around the house and plop down in different places. Turns out, Harper is the only one who is able to fly these days, as without a doubt, she is in our bed come morning.
It is such a firm grasp she has of her day - she doesn't want to let it go. This one day has been so great that sleep will only ruin how great this day is...if only we didn't need to sleep!
When do we stop dreading bedtime? Is that when we become adults?
Meow!
No doubt it's 7:21a, as the cats are better than alarm clocks - if only I could set their time. Meow!
"Morning momma." Stretch
"Morning Harper. How did you sleep?"
"Fine."
"Did you have any dreams?" She still doesn't know what I'm talking about when I ask this one. She just stares at me.
"Can we go to Papa Glen's house today?"
"No sweetie. But we'll visit him soon. Do you want to call him?"
"No. Let's get breakfast. Let's race!"
And she already has a firm grasp on this new magical day.
QUESTION: How do you and your kids dance through bedtime?
Authored by A Swift Doula
Photo credit: Bethan Phillips. *This photo is copyrighted and can only be used with the correct attribution*
"I don't want it to be bedtime! I want it to be sun time!"
"Sorry sweet heart. The sun is already in bed. You need to go to bed too."
"Mom, I don't want it to be bedtime! Can we snuggle?"
"Time to potty and brush your teeth."
"I don't want to brush my teeth!"
"Ok. But we are going to potty and brush our teeth. Even when we don't want to."
"Mom. I want to play."
"I hear you honey. I want you to play too, but we are out of time for play. We are in time for bed."
At bedtime some of the things I say are just a huge puzzle of language that my daughter tries to figure out. Sometimes I do it on purpose. It will distract her thinking about what I'm saying and in the meantime, she goes potty, she lets me brush her teeth, and by the time she looks at me again with a question, I have one leg of her jammers on her wiggly body.
Sometimes, the words just flow out of me in non-sense.
Sometimes, I can't think of what to say.
"Every night we have bed time. Every night is the same." Except it isn't, is it?
"Mom I want to sleep with you!"
"You get to start in your own bed and we'll see where we all land in the morning."
Like magically, we float around the house and plop down in different places. Turns out, Harper is the only one who is able to fly these days, as without a doubt, she is in our bed come morning.
It is such a firm grasp she has of her day - she doesn't want to let it go. This one day has been so great that sleep will only ruin how great this day is...if only we didn't need to sleep!
When do we stop dreading bedtime? Is that when we become adults?
Meow!
No doubt it's 7:21a, as the cats are better than alarm clocks - if only I could set their time. Meow!
"Morning momma." Stretch
"Morning Harper. How did you sleep?"
"Fine."
"Did you have any dreams?" She still doesn't know what I'm talking about when I ask this one. She just stares at me.
"Can we go to Papa Glen's house today?"
"No sweetie. But we'll visit him soon. Do you want to call him?"
"No. Let's get breakfast. Let's race!"
And she already has a firm grasp on this new magical day.
QUESTION: How do you and your kids dance through bedtime?
Authored by A Swift Doula
Photo credit: Bethan Phillips. *This photo is copyrighted and can only be used with the correct attribution*
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