Getting kids (toddler and older) to sleep

Depending on the night, Isaiah can find a million reasons to get up out of bed after we've done our bedtime routine. Some nights when we're feeling nice, we give in and get him what he wants (a drink, a different stuffed animal, whatever...). As soon as he realizes he can get away with staying up, he will find even more reasons not to sleep. This method frustrates everyone.

I am a big fan of the show Supernanny. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but this British woman named Jojo comes into disfunctional, undisciplined families and gives them concrete ways to bring order to the family. Apparently one major issue with many families is getting kids to bed. Jojo's method works like magic, and the nights we are firm and use it, Isaiah never gets out of bed more than once.

Here's what you do. The first time the kid gets out of bed say only, "Time to sleep, honey," take him by the hand and lead him back to bed. The second time he gets up, say very firmly, "It's time to sleep," and lead him back to bed. The most important thing is not to engage in conversation. Every time after that that the child gets out of bed, say nothing, and lead him back to bed.

We skip the first two steps and just put Isaiah back in bed without saying anything. He quickly gets the picture that the day is over, and we're serious about his going to bed. He has never gotten up out of bed after we take him to bed with no conversation.

Raised by wolves... apparently

I took this picture a few weeks ago when I put Sam down on the couch to change his diaper. His hair stuck straight up! Guess we need some humidification in our house... =)

Yesterday morning before church Sam and Isaiah were both riding on this little kiddie quad (really just a glorified scooter). Very cute right?

Well, just over twenty-four hours later, at Samuel's 15 month check-up, they were behaving like they had been raised by wolves. During the appointment Isaiah was jumping up and down, blowing raspberries, squealing and running around like a wild child. Apparently he wanted the doctor's attention. I kept telling him to sit down and look at a book and that this was Sam's appointment. And he completely ignored me. Argh.

Then Samuel was squirming, kicking, and screeching while the doctor tried to check his ears, heart, teeth, etc. I kept asking her to repeat her questions because I couldn't hear her. And she was only two feet away from me.

Another day in the life...

Update

Where has this week gone?!

I spent most of Monday working out the schedule for Seussical. Eden's musical will be at the end of April, and I've agreed to help teach the chorus music for it. Starting next week, I'll have three two-hours rehearsals after school each week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays). So it will be pretty time-consuming.

Tuesday I had the normal craziness of preschool, band, and piano lessons.

Wednesday we test drove a used minivan that we're probably going to buy. It's a 1999 Dodge Caravan - almost in this century! It has a brand new transmission and sliding doors on both sides (this is a big plus for me). It was about 58 degrees, so the boys and I went to Richland Park for a little while before nap time. They were running around in their t-shirts, and Isaiah kept saying he was too hot! It was great.

Wednesday night into Thursday we didn't have any electricity because of a wind storm. So we spent most of the day Thursday at my mom's house. The power came back on, and the house was warm enough for us to go home by Thursday night. Yea!

Today we went to the gym in the morning, and then I taught band in the afternoon. Now we're gearing down for a relaxing night at home.

Crab walk

On the way home from school on Thursday, Isaiah was telling me that they learned how to crab walk in gym class. Then he said that he wasn't that good at it and that the other kids were all crab walking faster than he was. Poor kid.

So later that day we practiced crab walking at home. He can go backward pretty quickly, but he has trouble going forward. I told him how the big kids at camp play crab soccer. He thought that sounded fun.

So these are the important things you do when you have a preschooler. =)

Where does Daddy live?

Isaiah: Mommy, where do we live?
Me: Where do you think we live?
Isaiah: In Pennsylvania, in the United States of the American flag. And where does Daddy live?
Me: In the same place we do.
Isaiah: No. This is just where he coopelates.
Me: You mean cooperates?
Isaiah: Yeah. His real house is in Butler.

Dan does spend a lot of time in Butler. Now I just have to convince my kid that he still lives here!