Look Back and Laugh: The Bedtime Battle

They should give out gold medals to parents. The kind of stamina, endurance, and drive it takes to raise a child is comparable to that of an olympic athlete. It's you versus the child. Who will win? When it comes to putting my little one to bed at night, you know I have had my struggles.

It used to be the crying, but that isn't as much of a problem anymore. Now that he is a talker (and what a talker he is!) he will try and manipulate you into coming back in the room to get him out of his crib. The bedtime routine begins with a diaper and pj's then once he is all ready for bed we read a story together, I put him in the crib with a bottle and I read a chapter in the Bible out loud. Then I start the musical frog and off I go.

About a minute later you hear THUMP followed by "Oh no I dropped my bottle" Which is interesting how one drops a bottle when they are laying down in a crib and it some how lands on the floor. This can also be applied to blanket or pillow.

Then comes "I need Pee Pee, I need toilet. I NEED TO GO TOILET!" when we first started potty training I fell for this hook line and sinker every time thinking that I would miss the ideal opportunity, but he never really had to go so I quit trying.

Usually after that he starts saying "mama, I want my mama" and that's a toughy because it really is precious, but I can usually withstand the pressure.

Lastly and the biggest weapon of all he says "I wanna read the Bible". The first time I heard this one I thought "oh you have got to be kiddng me?" He is barely two, but somehow I think the kid knows that it would be very difficult for a parent to deny their child a request to read the Bible.

That's not to say that I cave. I am working on a gold medal here. I know that he is tired and needs sleep and I can not give in, except for when I do.