Monday, January 19, 2009

Shaking up the bedtime routine


Bedtime has been a little bit interesting as of late at the Kang house.  Elise, Hannah and Chloe share a room and appropriate to the ratios of age and naughtiness, Elise and Hannah sure do give us a run for our money at times.  Yes, they are normally asleep by 9.  Maybe 9:30 at the latest.  But this comes at a great cost to our electricity bill. :)  Elise loves playing with the lights.  Off and on.  Off and on.  Flicker, flicker.  Jumping from bed to bed.  Giggling .  Jumping.  Keeping Chloe awake.  (Not Hannah.  Hannah is playing with her.)  

Today Chloe mentioned to Miss Jill (our angel of a piano teacher) that she was tired because all of that light flickering had kept her awake.  I must say that I start to giggle everytime I imagine my neighbors watching our house from 8:30-9.  Flicker, flicker.  Silhouettes of little girls jumping from bed to bed.  Peering out of their window.  If they have ever caught it, I would think it would provide quite the entertainment.  I have always just let it work its way through until they are sleeping because I am normally nursing away, but tonight we shook things up a little.  

I gave the girls their "back pack rides" to bed.  We tucked them in and said goodnight.  I turned off the light and shut the door, BUT I did not leave before I shut the door.  I stood in the darkness while I waited for the little hooligans to start their mischief.  It was a long wait.  (I am going to guesstimate 10 seconds?)  Hannah hops out of bed to open her blinds as Elise starts jumping.  From the dark corner, I simply say "Go to bed, Hannah."  You should have seen her jump!  It was absolutely hilarious and it almost ruined the whole plan because I was laughing hysterically.  And there I stood, waiting.  I put Elise back to bed about 6 times and listened to her whisper over and over, "Get out of my room, mommy."  Pretty soon, the two older ones were fast asleep and Elise was close enough to dream land that her shenanigans did not tempt her anymore.  I figure I will do this for the next week or so, but I doubt it will be quite as fun as tonight.  It is always nice for kids to think their moms have eyes on the back of their heads.  I am reminded of the father in Meet the Parents, reminding Gaylord Focker that he was being watched.  That's me.  The ex-CIA mom, waiting in dark bedrooms, spying on her 2 and 5 year old.  Yep, that's me.

7 comments:

Islandalli said...

Bedtime is always interesting at our house too. Keep us updated on your progress, because I have a little girl who loves to play with the lights too. Good luck!!!

Jenn said...

ROFL... what a great entry! I would love to know what the neighbors think, too. You should go outside and videotape it before you being it to a complete end... lol

Sarah said...

Rachel has lower ceilings and actually unscrews the lightbulb each night. I have vaulted ceilings in their room that make it a little bit more tricky, so I resort to sitting in the dark. Waiting. :)

bloodfamily said...

Sarah you sound like Super Nanny - that's something that she would do. Koodos for coming up with that! You made me laugh out loud when i read your post. Thanks for making my day!

nikko said...

Too funny. I love the "get out of my room, mommy!"

Our problem is that our two year old (who still naps) shares a room with the two older boys (who go to school). They are always ready for sleep WAY before he is.

I would go outside and videotape, too! fun!

The Veatches said...

Right now my betime is nice and simple, we will see what happens when Natalie is no longer in her crib. I would love to be your neighbor and see the light show every night.

Annalia said...

You're so sneaky! James is actually being good for bed lately. He realized a few days ago that he loves the stuffed Koala that he has ignored since Christmas of '07, and now he cuddles it to sleep every night.
We only have trouble when Jonny wants to play the pull-on-BooBoo's-koala game. Then the screaming begins.