Parenting…MACH DEUX, From the Cradle to the Day Bed
And it all came back like a clap of thunder. TRANSITION!!! From crib to bed, or day bed in this case.
I must admit that my wife and I had a pretty good night time routine going; wash hands, brush teeth, warm bath, and WOOSH!!! Crib ->Sleep. We managed to watch some movies,television, have conversations together, perhaps a little adult time...oh man!!! It was sweet. However, a few months ago we noticed our daughter had taken a liking to adult beds; our bed, her grandparents bed, friends beds, your bed. She would actually get under the covers, tuck herself in and say, "Good night." and let out a fake snoring sound.
Well, last week I figured that it was time to turn her crib into a day bed, as per the instruction manual that came with her crib. I went out and bought her a new Winnie the Pooh sheet thinking that this would be an easy endeavor. WRONG!!! The first night was a lie. The second night was a lie . Then she just stopped lying altogether and made it plain that she wanted to sleep in our bed exclusively. Here's a little recap:
First Night- My little peanut brittle sandwich face (todays pet name for my daughter) was pretty exhausted from the holidays (see last posting) and she passed out at 8:30pm and slept till 6:30am in her new bed. My wife and I celebrated, "Victory! Our kid is great! Is there anything that can stop her?Tomorrow we'll teach her how to make coffee for us." Alas, Lies! A fluke I say!
LATER NIGHTS- Each successive night was worse than the next. She would fall asleep in the living room, and I would carry her off to her bed, but she kept getting up and walking into our bedroom. Sometimes she would only be asleep in her room 1 hour and we'd hear a cockerspaniel-like whimper, "Daddy?". And into our bed she goes!
So now it's serious hardcore parenting time. Dinner, bathtime, storytime, bedtime,...get out of bedtime, beg time, put back to bedtime, more get out of bedtime, (An hour or so later) bedtime for Mom and Dad, followed by, exhaustion, family-bedtime, cat in the bed time, numbness of limb-time, etc...
Yup, I made a huge mistake. I found a small, bizzare, comfort zone for myself, and I forgot the number one rule of the parenting...the only constant in the universe is change.
Next blog teaser: Stay at home Dad, and 2 kids???