(Thank-you for all the lovely comments and e-mails about the previous post. I hope that y'all had a lovely week-end.)
So I have a question to pose to all you mums out there. Is your evening routine as hectic as ours? I sometimes feel like the boys are expecting some kind of beating or something with the way that they carry on and I'm wondering if it's something that we're doing. Let me give you an idea of the routine (which worked perfectly until they got chicken pox, since then, they've become really difficult);
4:30pm
Dinner (usually consists of veggies, chicken/pasta and fruit
5:00pm - 5:45pm
Mum and Aunty K go through reportoire of entertainment as the boredom of the day begins to set in.
5:45pm
Dad gets home and the boys show their delight by frantically demanding his attention.
6:00pm
Dad runs the bath and entertains boys. Mum collects pj's, growbags, dummies, bottles, nappies*, cream, wipes, miscellaneous items used for distraction.
6:15pm
Boys get into the bath and dad pretends to wash them (really it's just an exercise in teaching the boys to splash water all over the place :-))
6:30pm
The boys get out of the bath and this is where the fun begins. They don't mind being taken out of the bath, in fact for some reason they find it quite funny. Until that is, we reach the bedroom and they realise that it is time for them to enter the tomb of death wherein they will be subjected to forceful drying, excessive creaming and mummified in clothing and other sleep gear. I swear that my parents can hear the screams in South Africa. And the twisting and turning seriously tests my patience.
6:50ishpm
Bottle time. They love this part and are so content that they almost fall asleep on our laps. Unfortunately no matter how carefully we carry them to their cots, by the time we reach the threshold of their room, they're already getting their second wind.
7:00pm
Mum reads a chapter from the Magic Faraway Tree accompanied by the sweet soundtrack of shrieking, sqwauking and chuckling. I think that this may be their favourite time of the day (and to be honest I love their antics too).
7:10pm
Mum & Dad attempt to settle them down for bed. All lights are switched off, dummies are given, muslins are clutched and what follows is anything between 10 minutes and an hour of.... lay down, soothe, calm, attend. Up the stairs, down the stairs until eventually they both give in.
Now I know that it doesn't sound that bad (I realise that now that I'm typing it) but I just don't get what the fuss is about when it comes to dressing them and putting them down? Do all kids do this? Should we change something in the routine? Resign ourselves to our fate?
Let me know how your evening routine pans out, I am so not above poaching all your ideas.
A
* For some reason I always forget to put nappies out for this change and the RO has to double check me so that we don't find ourselves in an awquard position.
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3 comments:
Sounds VERY familiar. Erik hates going to bed. He always has. The can scream upwards of three hours if we try to make him cry it out (with lots of checking on him). I hope it will get better. . . someday. . . please dear God! (he's 19 months)
you know I always intended to do the CIO method (and I still think that it is probably the best option) but in the middle of the night I always give in because all I want do is sleep :-)
It does get better. I have a seven year old, a three and a half year old and a two year old now. Once they can feed themselves, and wash themselves and get up the stairs to their rooms by themselves that helps a lot. Night time is quick and painless now. I swear. Hang in there. There is hope. :)
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