I need more sleep! Got to get more sleep! I didn’t get enough sleep. How can I get more sleep?! How much sleep did you get? I sound more like a drug addict than a parent! Yet getting kids to go and stay in bed is a challenge at the best of times, they’re excited about life and don’t want to miss a moment. Yet it really is the only time parents get to themselves and we cherish these rare moments, or if you are like me you use this time to clean because you are Martyr. I use to sing a beautiful lullaby to my kids, it really just lulls them to sleep, I think it’s been passed on from generation to generation it goes something like this. “GO TO SLEEP! DON’T YOU THINK I NEED SOME TIME TO MY SELF! GO TO SLEEPPPPPPPP!!!!” Kidding!
My first baby I walked to sleep; I should have gotten a sponsor like in a marathon and raised some money for a cause. Boy was that a mistake. Every time I stopped moving or put her down she would just wake up again, I was in a Nightmare! Number two came along, they were only 15 months apart so I didn’t have time to walk number one anymore because I was too busy nursing number 2 (I’m giggling to myself because you know you are sleep deprived when your children become numbers!) So as I nursed number 2 , number 1 would lie beside me and we would all fall asleep, yes my alone time was now just sleeping. Eventually because they were so close in age we would put them to sleep together, number one would play with number 2’s ear instead of mine and they would send each other to sleep or giggle in bed until I would lose my mind and sing the lullaby! (kidding)
Number 3 came along five years later and this time I had it down. I realized it was my habits. This one we would lie in her crib, give a kiss and say good night. And to the family’s amazement she would smile and go to sleep. As she got older we had a routine I would sprinkle imaginary sleeping dust on her (very powerful) and sing her a real lullaby and with a kiss and a smile she would go to sleep.
