The other day we were up in Logan at Lance's parents house and we were discussing bedtime routines.
We had just put Haylee down for bed and after having her run out of the room multiple times we ended up getting a tie-down to tie the door shut so she couldn't escape.
They were all laughing at the steps we had to take in order for her to stay in bed. I made the comment "She's actually pretty good, she usually goes right to bed at home."
Lance began to laugh...
He then began to list off the steps that we take each night to get Haylee to sleep. Having him list out all the steps I realized bedtime at our house is ridiculous.
No, seriously. RIDICULOUS. The things we have to do in order to keep our wild, crazy two year old in her room each night is pretty extensive.
Each night starts our peaceful with Haylee and Avery having a blast splashing and playing in the bathtub together.
Pajama time is next. Safety pinning the zipper up is required due to her tendency to become a nudist at night.
We brush her teeth then give her a glass of water because we know from experience that the minute we shut her door she will ask for a drink.
We then go into her room and make sure her room is completely clean. She will not sleep if anything is left out on her floor.
We remove all her "big" toys so she won't play with them. These toys are placed in the hallway outside her door.
After removing all toys and making sure they are out of her sight we go through the room and lock up all cabinets, closets, anything that she can open and get items out of.
Next step... scripture reading, prayer time and kisses and hugs.
Haylee then insists she "makes Avery laugh" for a few minutes. This is a crucial step. This can seriously make or break our night. If Avery refuses to sit still why Haylee does everything she can to make Avery clap, giggle,shake her head, basically do anything, Haylee will throw a fit.
After making Avery laugh we move onto the next step where Haylee makes us sing the "I Love You, You love me" song. Lance and I have to sing it separately complete with hugs and kisses then Haylee has to take a turn singing it to Avery.
Finally we are ready for bed.
Once tucked in and the lights are off she gets to choose one more song for us to sing. While we sing Lance sneaks down the hall and flips the breaker and cuts the power to her room. Yes, we cut all power to our child's room. We've tried tape and even countless layers of duck tape. She still manages to turn on the light and run around her room. Cutting the power is the only way we can make sure the light stays off.
The last step in our crazy night is to tie her door shut with the door across the hall so she can't open it.
I know that the steps with take are probably excessive but honestly I've adopted the mentality of "Whatever Works". I can either fight her and have to put her back in her room a million times or I can do a few extra steps to make my life a bit easier.
Come 8:30 each night I'm done being a mom for the day and am in desperate need for me-time. If crazy routines are what it takes for me to achieve me-time sooner. So be it.
