Lizz Welter

Lizz Welter

Lizz Welter is mother to two beautiful daughters and one handsome son. She has lived in Ohio, Arkansas, and Kansas... but she adores Kansas City and can't imagine raising her family anyplace else. Lizz enjoys exercise, reading, cooking, blogging, and she's a leader in her local MOPS group.

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Interrupted

by: Lizz Welter

published on: 2/3/2010 12:00:00 AM

    I had the best of intentions of sitting down and writing a post about date nights.  Specifically, I was going to write about having date nights “in” or at home.  Of course, the key word is “was.”  It didn’t happen and here’s why…

    All day I looked forward to the season premiere of LOST.  My husband was volunteering at church, so I got to put the kids to bed solo.  Though I desperately wanted to watch my show as soon as it started, I took my time putting my little ones to bed.  I gave them baths complete with colored water and bubbles.  We read stories and I kissed and hugged them multiple times.  I then rushed downstairs to finish the dishes and that is when the fun began.

     “Mommy, I have to tell you something," my preschooler yelled from his room.  Four different times I went upstairs and then back downstairs.  I only had half a dozen dishes left to wash, but it must have taken me half an hour by the time I dealt with my preschooler's bedtime stalling techniques.  By then, though I’d been brainstorming all day, I had no energy left to write anything remotely creative about fun date nights at home.

     Instead, I wondered if you can relate to this bedtime dance.  So, can you relate?  Are they really scared or do they truly need to use the bathroom, again or is it time to put your foot down and turn to discipline methods?  Either way, the night drags on and by the time the munchkins are sound asleep, it’s time for you to turn in as well.  Of course, you don’t.  Instead you stay up too late enjoying the quiet time or the time with your spouse.   You might wake up tired the next day and begin the same adventure once more.  And yet, despite it all you wouldn’t trade you little ones for anything, except of course for a few hours of sleep.  Oh, I kid.  (I’m a bit sleep deprived so you’ll have to excuse me.)

    Things aren’t really that bad around here.  Every night isn’t a battle to get the little ones to bed, but on those nights it sure feels like every night.  So, I’m wondering, what do you do to keep your sweet ones in bed?

tagged with: Preschoolers Parenting

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Comments  5

  • TW 3 Feb, 06:40 AM

    I just hope you have a DVR to catch LOST.  That would have been the biggest travesty.

  • Sarah W 3 Feb, 09:17 AM

    Our methods would not work for everyone, but the way we get our kids to stay in bed is this:
    - Our 3 year old gets to keep his lamp on for awhile and look at books or do whatever he wants (we took all the toys out of his room). We are in that weird stage where he needs a nap to function til bedtime, but then he is not that tired.  We leave his light on until about 9.  He enjoys the time by himself, then he willingly goes to bed when lights go out.  
    - For our 2 year old, the secret is that we let her keep her door open.  She used to fight bedtime every night.  Finally, we honored her request to keep her door open.  And it totally works!  If she gets out of bed, the door closes.  She likes the door open so much that she always stays in bed.

    Of course, these are personality/child specific, but it works for us!!  On most nights, at least!  
    (Did you get to watch Lost?) 

  • KC 3 Feb, 02:40 PM

    With my kids, they're much more likely to stall if they think they're missing something fun. If we tell them that mommy & daddy are going to bed, too, we almost never hear anything from them. Of course, *sometimes* we want to stay up! so then we have to emphasize that we're just going to be doing boring stuff. Sometimes they even buy it.

  • Terri McCoy 3 Feb, 04:38 PM

    I can relate: My grankids fight bedtime almost every night,starting with I have to tell you somethin,and then its I'm thirsty, and I have to go to the bathroom, and last but not least,they say, can I have a bedtime snack.Thats when I finally say ok, you have gone to the bathroom, and you have have had your drink of water, and your bedtime snack,your done,don't ask for anything else, and I put them in there rooms and let them watch a  little bit of tv till they drift off to sleep and it usually works.So hang in there, and try this and see if it works for you.

  • Brooke 3 Feb, 06:46 PM

    Who am I kidding.... I yell! Almost always, I end up yelling, "GET IN BED!!!!" and then they finally settle in for the night! They are 6 and 9 and yet still scared and sleep together, so threaten making one of them go back to their own room.... quiet as mice! Works every time!
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