Good, good, good, good, good

I hate bedtime.

Mornings are tough, but they're manageable, thanks to my patented trick of training my children to stay in bed later than they might ordinarily enjoy.

Me: Oooo - it's snuggle time. Let's get under the covers and talk about what we want for breakfast.

Bee: Yay! Snuggle time. I want oatmeal and pancakes and sausage, no, bacon and marshmallows shaped like Christmas trees and pretzels and....

Me: Zzzzzzzzzz.

I've never said I was a good parent.

So that's how I deal with mornings. That and copious, stomach-eroding amounts of coffee and other caffeinated beverages. And just the teensiest bit of crank with my marmalade toast. Mmmm.

The rest of the day usually goes pretty smoothly. And even if I can't exactly get anything accomplished, at least we all have a decent time of things.

MM has taught me that I too easily confuse her near-constant happiness with ease of care. The truth is that she is almost as demanding as Bee was at the same age, she just smiles and coos a lot more. Bee was much quicker to express frustration, leaving us feeling like parental Carrottops, furiously running through our big box of props in a fevered attempt to quell her displeasure.

Instead of a crying baby who won't allow me to set her feet on the floor, I have a grinning baby who won't let me set her feet on the floor.

The net result is largely the same: The kids' daily functional hours exceed mine. By 7 p.m., I am so thoroughly done, I would hire Tara Reid to come be our evening nanny if it would mean I could go take a bath. Alone. Without anyone throwing toys into the tub.

But no. At 7 p.m., we still have at least one hour to go, and possibly more.

Provided that we can get Bee in and out of the bath and into her pajamas without a critical 3y/o meltdown over something life-altering like turning the water off too soon (or not soon enough) or discovering that the preferred PJs are still in the dirty clothes hamper, her bedtime ritual is pretty simple. Brush teeth. Three stories. Smooth blankets.

"Goodnight, Mama."
"Goodnight, Bee. See you in the morning for snuggling."

MM is proving to be the bedtime wildcard.

Some nights, she drifts softly and immediately into a sweet, smiling sleep. Other nights, she fights it - twisting and turning and sitting up to giggle and scrunch her nose and make other hilarious faces so her parents will totally forget why they brought her in the bedroom.

Tonight's slumber was 1.5 hours in the making. And by the time she fell asleep and I made my way downstairs to get cracking on all those little projects that are completely impossible when small children are awake, I used my last sliver of energy to make myself a bowl of ice cream.

See you in the morning for snuggling.

Comments

[ppb]

Aw, I hope she gives in soon!