Reese historically has been a good sleeper – easy to put down, albeit we have a routine. But recently, as she is growing smarter, she has decided she does not like going to bed. Every night she pulls every excuse out of the bag in an attempt to stay awake. This is an actual conversation we had last night, and, truth be told it’s quite similar to the one we have been having every night for the last few weeks.
*Note Reese has been placed in her crib at this point and the lights are off – routine is over. Oh, and her crib tent is zipped up - she is effectively locked in (she wouldn’t stay in her crib otherwise).
Me: Goodnight Reese, I love you.
Reese: No, don’t leave!
Me: What’s wrong Reese?
Reese: I have a big problem.
Me: What is your big problem?
Reese: I want to sleep on the floor.
Me: You don’t want to sleep on the floor, it’s too hard. Your bed is nice and soft.
Reese: My bed is not soft, it is hard.
Reese proceeds to “try” and jump, but has no luck because her “bed is too hard” to bounce. She has yet to actually lay down.
Me: Reese, your bed is soft. It’s late and you need to go to sleep. Good night, I love you.
Reese: No, don’t go! I have an owie!
Me: What hurts Reese?
Reese: My back hurts. Kiss it better.
I unzip her crib tent and kiss her back. I then zip her crib tent back up. She tries ferociously to climb out of her crib during the brief moment the tent is unzipped. I win this battle.
Me: All better. It’s time to go to sleep now. Good night.
Reese: I have another owie.
Me: No you don’t.
Reese: Yeah, I have another owie!
Me: Good night Reese, I love you.
Reese: THERE’S A BIG MONSTER! HE’S GOING TO GET ME!!!
Me: Reese, there is no monster. And if there was, monsters are nice so he wouldn’t “get you”. You are safe.
Reese: Sleep on the floor next to me.
Me: Okay, I will lie on the floor next to your crib for two minutes.
I lay on floor. Reese does a head stand.
Me: Reese, I need you to go to sleep. Your body needs to rest so you can have energy to be crazy tomorrow.
Reese babbles about all of the crazy things she will do tomorrow with her energy (e.g. wrestle daddy, jump on the moon, push daddy over, play games, pillow fight with daddy, etc.) I’m starting to think Reese doesn't love me; she loves seeing me in pain.
After two minutes I stand up to leave.
Reese: No daddy, don’t go!
Me: It’s time to go to sleep Reese, good night.
Brief moment of silence, I walk to the door.
Reese: I love you daddy.
I stop, walk back to her crib and lay down. Smiling and smitten.
Me: I love you too Reese!
Reese smiles, knowing she has just learned a new trick. Unable to contain her excitement about winning tonight's war, she starts to jump in her bed. I eventually sneak out, but the jumping goes on for hours.
My stomach hurts because I am laughing so hard. :) After I read all about your bedtime battle, I called Brandon in to read it. I made him read it out loud so I could hear it again. He had to stop multiple times because we were both laughing too hard to keep reading. This is awe.some. Miss you guys!
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