Mr. Sandman Bring Me a Dream

Oh, babies.  So wonderful.  So adorable.  So lovable.  What angels they are.

When they are sleeping...

So peaceful.

So quiet.

Angels.

But getting them to sleep.  Oh oh oh oh oh...  That's when the wings come off and the golden halos get tossed into the trash.  They can be downright monsters when it comes to bedtime (or even naptime).  

In this household, we've had our fair share of struggles with bedtime.  I'm sure every parent living and deceased has had trouble at some point with getting their sweet little angel to just close their eyes and go the *bleep* to sleep.  Our troubles with bedtime seem to come and go.  

Annie is our little angel when it comes to sleep.  It took well over a year to get to where she is now.  I did the bad thing of nursing her to get her to sleep.  And we did the co-sleeping thing for way too long.  Finally we wised up and made the transition to having her sleep in her crib.  Now, when it's bedtime, you merely lay her down on her pillow, make sure she has her blankie, cover her with a nice fuzzy blanket, place a few of her "friends" around her, then turn out the light and shut the door.  Easy as pie.  For now...

Orry has gone through many a phase.  He co-slept as well, but not for nearly as long.  He transitioned to his own bed pretty early on.  While the bed was okay for a while, he regressed.  Then there was a time where he preferred his crib.  That didn't last that long.  Then there was sleeping with his brother, which went well for a while.  Isaac also has gone through different sleeping phases.  Co-sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.  Co-sleeping with Brother.  No crib sleeping, though, since there aren't many cribs in Korea.  Isaac's phases are better defined by how he's put to sleep.  There were times where you could just put him in bed and say goodnight and he would stay and go to sleep.  Then there were those times where he wanted to rub your eyebrows until he fell asleep (or until you had no more eyebrows, whichever came first).

Currently, the boys are having a hard time falling asleep on their own.  They want the stories.  So we read the stories.  Then they want a last sip of water.  So they get their last sip of water.  You turn the lights out and leave.  Isaac comes out of the room about 5, 6, 7, 10 times before you finally just go in there and lie down with him.  When they finally get you in there, lying down with them, they ask for a story.  No story?  How about a song?  Maybe There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly?  Or Puff the Magic Dragon?  Now tickle our backs.  Please.  Scratch our backs.  Please.  And before you know it, we are all sleeping.  

I don't know about you, but when I'm dead tired and I fall asleep back there around 9pm, I don't feel like getting back up to finish cleaning the kitchen or cleaning the living room.  Finish the laundry?  Psh, yeah right.  My night is over.  But it's starting to get out of hand.  I'm really far behind on my laundry.  I'm even further behind on talking to my husband.  Things have to change.

So tonight we put our feet down.  Stories?  Yes.  Prayers?  Double yes.  Songs?  Okay, yes, but I'm sitting up to sing them to you and then I'm outta here.  There was pleading and lots of tears, but we had a talk.  I told them that I had to do my work, but that more importantly, I had to spend time with Daddy.  They tried to  negotiate, but I held my ground.  It was a better night than most, I have to say.  Do we have a long way to go?  Quite possibly.

Hopefully we'll get this under control. Then we can work on getting them, and by them I mean Isaac, to stay in their beds all night long.  Here's to hoping.