Nighty-night
The other day I read a post on lullabies and it inspired me to think about C-man's bedtime routine and what songs I sing to him.
If we're at my mom's house, he has dinner there, plays in the playpen for a little bit while the adults eat dinner. Then we bathe him and go home, or we go home and then I bathe him there. If we're at home, he eats dinner and then we play a little bit in the playroom. Around 7:45 I announce that it's bath time and we go upstairs. I (or R, if he's not working) bathe him and then we put on his PJ's. I pick out three books (1. daily bible stories, 2. any book I choose and 3. Goodnight Moon) to read and settle into the rocking chair.
Once, I've read Goodnight Moon, I give him his blanket and sing some lullabies to him. My singing repertoire usually consists of: This old man, ABC's, Rock-a-bye Baby, and Twinkle Twinkle. If he still doesn't look sleepy then we break into round two which consists of the songs from some of my favorite Disney rides: Yo ho Yo ho, Zipadee doo dah, Haunted Mansion song and It's a Small World. I figure this will either create a love for Disney songs or put him to sleep on the rides when we go to Disney World.
After my bedtime karaoke performances are over, I put him in his crib (he's usually still awake) with his Pooh blanket and he turns over and goes to sleep with nary a peep. Now isn't that lovely? I wonder how long that will last. Did I just jinx myself by writing about it?
_______________________________________________________
The answer to that question my friends is a resounding yesssss....
You see, I've been meaning to write about his bedtime routine for a while now. I wrote this post a while back and had it sitting in my drafts. I hadn't had the time to finish it or post it, so it just sat there. I didn't think it would matter since this has been his bedtime routine for several months now, so even if I posted it a couple of weeks late, the routine would be the same right?
Ha ha ha...the if-you-post-it-you-will-jinx-it (IYPIYWJI) gods have been paying attention though. Actually, they're punishing me prematurely because I hadn't even pressed the publish button yet, so wtf?
For the past week, Chris has been refusing all the books that I've chosen to read to him. He used to sit through three stories, but lately though, he hasn't been letting me read any book that he hasn't picked out himself. I'm barely on the first page when he slams it shut and pushes it away. I finally gave up and let him pick the books, so it appears that I'm destined to read the same three books for the rest of my life (because he always picks the same ones): The hungry caterpillar, Pat the bunny and Goodnight moon. Nothing else will do.
Wait, there's more...
My son must have also been watching American Idol lately because he doesn't want me to sing to him anymore either. Last night after I finished Goodnight Moon he asked for his blanket and snuggled himself in my arms. I settled back in the rocking chair and started my rendition of "This old man", when all of a sudden this young man started whacking me in the throat so that I wouldn't sing. I know I'm no Celine Dion, but ouch, that's kind of harsh there Simon. So I sat there and rocked him in silence. After a little while I tried again and got whacked again...OK dude, I get it. No more singing. Since there was no singing to be had, I just put him in his bed and he rolled over and went to sleep. Just like that. Wow, it seems our bedtime routine just got shortened.
My mom asks me why I bother with the whole routine of reading and singing, when it probably isn't really necessary. I tell her that I do it because I like to do it. I know that he would probably go to sleep with one book and no songs just the same (he proved that last night), but this is the only moment in the day that he and I get to unwind from our busy day and spend some quality quiet time together. It's our special snuggle time. I know that pretty soon, he'll be a big boy and won't want to cuddle with mommy anymore, so I'm trying to enjoy it as long as I can.
If we're at my mom's house, he has dinner there, plays in the playpen for a little bit while the adults eat dinner. Then we bathe him and go home, or we go home and then I bathe him there. If we're at home, he eats dinner and then we play a little bit in the playroom. Around 7:45 I announce that it's bath time and we go upstairs. I (or R, if he's not working) bathe him and then we put on his PJ's. I pick out three books (1. daily bible stories, 2. any book I choose and 3. Goodnight Moon) to read and settle into the rocking chair.
Once, I've read Goodnight Moon, I give him his blanket and sing some lullabies to him. My singing repertoire usually consists of: This old man, ABC's, Rock-a-bye Baby, and Twinkle Twinkle. If he still doesn't look sleepy then we break into round two which consists of the songs from some of my favorite Disney rides: Yo ho Yo ho, Zipadee doo dah, Haunted Mansion song and It's a Small World. I figure this will either create a love for Disney songs or put him to sleep on the rides when we go to Disney World.
After my bedtime karaoke performances are over, I put him in his crib (he's usually still awake) with his Pooh blanket and he turns over and goes to sleep with nary a peep. Now isn't that lovely? I wonder how long that will last. Did I just jinx myself by writing about it?
_______________________________________________________
The answer to that question my friends is a resounding yesssss....
You see, I've been meaning to write about his bedtime routine for a while now. I wrote this post a while back and had it sitting in my drafts. I hadn't had the time to finish it or post it, so it just sat there. I didn't think it would matter since this has been his bedtime routine for several months now, so even if I posted it a couple of weeks late, the routine would be the same right?
Ha ha ha...the if-you-post-it-you-will-jinx-it (IYPIYWJI) gods have been paying attention though. Actually, they're punishing me prematurely because I hadn't even pressed the publish button yet, so wtf?
For the past week, Chris has been refusing all the books that I've chosen to read to him. He used to sit through three stories, but lately though, he hasn't been letting me read any book that he hasn't picked out himself. I'm barely on the first page when he slams it shut and pushes it away. I finally gave up and let him pick the books, so it appears that I'm destined to read the same three books for the rest of my life (because he always picks the same ones): The hungry caterpillar, Pat the bunny and Goodnight moon. Nothing else will do.
Wait, there's more...
My son must have also been watching American Idol lately because he doesn't want me to sing to him anymore either. Last night after I finished Goodnight Moon he asked for his blanket and snuggled himself in my arms. I settled back in the rocking chair and started my rendition of "This old man", when all of a sudden this young man started whacking me in the throat so that I wouldn't sing. I know I'm no Celine Dion, but ouch, that's kind of harsh there Simon. So I sat there and rocked him in silence. After a little while I tried again and got whacked again...OK dude, I get it. No more singing. Since there was no singing to be had, I just put him in his bed and he rolled over and went to sleep. Just like that. Wow, it seems our bedtime routine just got shortened.
My mom asks me why I bother with the whole routine of reading and singing, when it probably isn't really necessary. I tell her that I do it because I like to do it. I know that he would probably go to sleep with one book and no songs just the same (he proved that last night), but this is the only moment in the day that he and I get to unwind from our busy day and spend some quality quiet time together. It's our special snuggle time. I know that pretty soon, he'll be a big boy and won't want to cuddle with mommy anymore, so I'm trying to enjoy it as long as I can.
posted by Claudia at 9:52 AM
1 Comments:
That is a nice story... I will try to remember this posting so that I can implement these techniques when my little one arrives.
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