Bedtime

We all know how vital it is to a child's day when they get enough sleep. Especially when you have to make sure that your child catches the bus in the morning and can get through their long school day without a meltdown. Coincidently, by 8pm, E and I are pretty wiped from the day. And we need some time that is kid-free. We use that time to clean up the kitchen, E gets a shower, and lately I've been having to do something with the Squirt as he is still a little squirmy at that time. That's why 8pm is bedtime in our house.

Thankfully, Dani has never been the meltdown type, but she does need her sleep. We follow a strict nighttime schedule for her. At 7pm, she gets her shower and starts getting ready for bed. By 8pm she is in bed and finishing a story or visiting with either E or me. She is almost always asleep by 8:15 and we wake her up shortly before 6am. She catches the bus at 6:40. This routine is essential in our house, but on the special occasion, like visitors or weekends, we can be a little flexible.

When my mom visits, Dani loves to snuggle with her before bed. I don't mind that so much as I mind that my mom tells me that Dani needs to have someone lay down with her to go to sleep. Which isn't true. Dani has been going to sleep on her own since she was 3 months old. Now, if she sat on the edge of the bed, or stroked her back, WITHOUT talking; I could deal with it. But my mom lays in bed with Dani and they talk and giggle. One time she didn't come out of Dani's room until 8:45. I had thought that whole time that my mom was outside talking on the phone so I didn't go in to check.

She always said that she didn't realize the time, or something similar. Then, the day that we changed our clocks back, she did it again. Only we hadn't changed the time on Dani's clock yet so when the clock said 8:45, it was actually 7:45. E and I thought this was odd that Dani's door was closed and the light was off. We knew that they were in there, but we also knew it was way early to go to bed. E went in, turned on the light, and started putting some clothes away. Mom said, "Don't you want her to go to sleep? It's 8:45." E said, "No, it's 7:45, we haven't fixed this clock yet." That tells me that my mom was fully aware of the time and was just scoring some extra time.

And I don't mind that.... I just wanted her to respect our routine. The next night, I had Dani get an early shower, and told her that she could have extra time to snuggle that way. We got lights out and mom evacuated out of the room by 8:15. I can deal with that. And by the time they left things had worked themselves out in that area.