I feel guilty, but sometimes I really just don't like "quality time together."
So it's after 9 o'clock- 9:06 to be exact and my husband is starting to really wonder. Why is Ariana still up? Well, because I really hate doing the bedtime routine with her.
Really, I assure you, I do start every night with a great positive attitude. "Oh, we're going to totally rock this bedtime routine!" I think to myself with a smile. We're going to bathe, use the toilet, wash hands, put on pajamas, put on the pull-up (she can't go all night without wetting the bed), brush teeth, read three books, snuggle, pray, sing, and blissfully drift into dreamland and I'm going to do it all in a beautiful picturesque 20 minutes.
Well, though the task list is already long, I forget that there are a few extra tasks to add to that list. She wants a snack before bedtime and of course she wants her doll that has disappeared somewhere in the last 5 minutes, then she has that owwie that needs a band-aid (whether real or imaginary), and then somehow she found a crayon and needs to finish her picture. Whatever it is sometimes I can solve it and still get her down in bed but somehow after the door closes there are more requests. "Mama?? Mama?" What a sweet innocent little voice! If I wasn't so annoyed I might enjoy it ever more. More hugs and somehow her doll has disappeared again lost in the sheets somewhere. Seconds later, "Mama?? Mama?" This time there is no real explanation. I take it to mean even more hugs and kisses. And then just when I really think that she must be asleep- her door has been closed for 15 minutes already- she comes out of her room again. This time it's a potty break. Understandable, especially if I ever want her to be able to stay dry for the entire night and outgrow her nighttime pull-ups. Yet, still a bit annoying since I had finally been able to get some work down on that project that I had been thinking about all day long.
This weekend a routine like this, me walking up the stairs over and over and re-tucking her in again and again went on until about 11 pm. I've gotten so close to slapping her bottom but have resorted to stomping and making her cry. Secretly I'm not mad enough to stomp like a temper tantrum but I do want her to feel. I tell her that I am not happy. She might start to cry. I get another secret smile. "Yes!" If she cries then she might actually realize that she's tired and my work will finally be done. No more running up and down the stairs! Sometimes I go up and down 10 times. By this time my ankles have usually started swelling just like a pregnant lady and that sensation gives me mixed feelings. Hmm. . .
Well, you know what is interesting? This whole time while I've been talking about how annoying bedtime is, Ariana actually went to bed very peacefully tonight. I gave her a nice bath with Corban and I didn't get shampoo in her eyes. There were no arguments about pajamas tonight, she did not insist on wearing a church dress, she brushed her teeth after some gentle coaxing, we read one book, I turned out the lights and she really did drift off blissfully into dreamland. Really it was beautiful, it was picturesque, and it really was some wonderful quality time together.
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