Bedtime Blunders=Mommy Madness

I am not gonna lie, I struggle with putting my handsome prince to bed.  It was so much easier when he was between the ages of newborn to three and now that he is three and counting I have way more trouble with getting him to bed.

Are your kids like my prince?  Picture this:  You are ready for adult time and/or quiet time.  You are counting the minutes until you can legitimately put your kiddo(s) bed.  Then you finally get them wrestled into their jammies, teeth all brushed and clean and all the kisses have been given.  You have given them all the "cuddles" or "lovies" they should need and the covers have been pulled up.  You walk downstairs or to whatever non-kid room you have and attempt to start your adult time.  Little foot steps begin coming down the stairs and tracking you to where ever you have tried to take refuge.  You put them back, and they keep getting out of bed.

Well I wanted to stop this pattern, but not deny my prince what he needs, whether it be a drink of water or an extra cuddle.  I wanted him to feel like he was in charge while I was still getting what I so desperately need at the end of the night.

Thus the Get out of Bed Free Ticket system.  "What is that?" you say...

It is a ticket that I created that allows the munchkin to get out of bed for free, without the struggle or frustration.  Now I am sure that there are others out there who have done something similar, so I don't want anyone to think that I stole the idea.  I did think of it one day while arguing with my little one about getting to bed.

First I decided how many times his getting out of bed is desirable each night.  I thought about the reasons for his getting out of bed (aside from going to the bathroom) and what he was attempting to accomplish by doing so.  I decided that 2 times, again not including bathroom uses, is more then enough for him to come and get me or get out of bed.

Second, I talked with him like a big kid.  I explained that mommys and daddys need time to talk with one another and spend time with one another and that it was also important for him to get good sleep so that his body grows and has enough energy for all the playing that he likes to do.  I explained that he was going to get tickets to come downstairs at nap time and bed time and he gets to choose when he uses them during both sleep times.  He got to pick out their color and size.  He knows that when he comes down after being tucked in that he had to bring one of his tickets.  Once the tickets are gone he has to stay in bed, again unless he has to use the bathroom.

I have to say, that he has really embraced this idea and technique and bedtime has become much less stressful already.

Tonight, he come down a third time, but could not tell me why he needed to get out of bed.  I reminded him that he used all of his tickets and that unless he needs to use the bathroom, he has to stay in bed.  He responded to this very well.

You might be wondering what I will do if he comes down asking to use the bathroom multiple times.  Well, I will walk him to the bathroom, not engaging in conversation.  I will help him sit on the potty and use the bathroom.  Even if he doesn't void, I will still put him on there so that he knows that I mean business.

Here's to hoping this continues to work.   If you would like to use my ticket template...you are welcome to it.  Here is form I created....Get out of Bed Free Ticket

Sunday Struggles

Once again I find myself struggling with Sunday.
I am thinking of all the things I wanted to do over the weekend and all the things that I did not get done.
I am thinking about all the things the I have to get done at work this week.  The pressure of getting my billing done, the pressure of getting reassessments entered and then...tie up ALL loose ends.  Don't forget to answer the phone, be compassionate, file the paperwork and the list goes on.

Once again I feel the struggle between the need to work for income and the ingrained, deep in my heart need to be home and taking caring of all the household things that get neglected while I am at work.
I am sitting here, goofing around on the internet when I should be doing something "work" related or "home" related and I can't help but feel like it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, I am not going to get any of it done.

I took some time yesterday to enjoy the day.  I spent the day in one of my favorite cities with a young lady getting ready to move to that city.  The whole time I was down there I felt amazing.  I felt so renewed.  I felt like a young lady myself getting excited about starting my life as a college student.  Now I cannot harness any of that excitement, energy and newness into what I need/must do to get things accomplished.

This makes me think that I am working to hard to accomplish the things that I am not really supposed to be working to accomplish.

But how I make a change?  What change do I make?  If I stop working, are we going to be financially stable?  These are all questions that I am not sure how to answer or even if there is an answer.

For now, each day I feel a struggle.  I feel myself being pulled.  But I have to wonder when will my breaking point come and at what cost?