Showing posts with label bedtime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bedtime. Show all posts

Friday, July 12, 2019

We Don't Want to Take a Nap!

It's Nap Time!

Ah... naptime! It quickly becomes one of the favorite times of day for any parent. It doesn't even matter who is taking the nap - it could be the kids or you! This story is all about naptime and a little secret weapon you may want to add to your arsenal.

Saturdays

When the kids were small, and still taking naps, my wife worked on Saturdays leaving me with the children. We had a lot of fun on those days - we might go out to lunch, go to the park, play in the yard or, if the weather wasn't great, we would play with big cardboard bricks or the "Lego"-like wipes boxes (empty, of course.) I don't know who had more fun, me or the kids, but the fun was real and we still laugh about some of the stuff to this day.

As much fun as we had there was still the matter of the afternoon nap - necessary to ensure an absence of crankiness as the day wore on; mine and theirs. It started to get progressively more difficult to get them down for a nap but one day the heavens opened and an angel delivered unto me the perfect weapon - deceit! 😇

My wife and I had a wooden, queen-sized bed at the time and the kids started wanting to sleep in it. They were big enough so that I didn't have to worry about them falling out but I tucked them in pretty good anyway. This particular afternoon they were adamantly against going to sleep but I had a plan. Once I got them to lie down in the bed I told them about the "contest".

The Contest

The winner of the contest did not have to take a nap; this got their attention. The rules were simple - they had to lie still, eyes closed and no talking. The kid that stayed awake the longest was the winner and didn't have to take a nap! I started the contest and told them I would be back in a few minutes to see who won. Can you guess who won? Yes, it was me because both kids were asleep almost before I got to the end of the hallway. I have to be honest, I certainly did not expect this to work but it did. When my wife got home we all told her about the contest.

Now, as surprised as I was that the "contest" worked, I was twice as surprised when it worked a second time! Yes, that right! The following Saturday we played the same game at naptime and they fell asleep without a fight. Sadly, this was the last time it worked - despite my best efforts. I even try it now, more than twenty years later, but they just look at me and walk away shaking their heads. Now it seems my wife and I are the only ones who take naps and I am okay with that.




Both images were obtained from Pixabay and require no attribution.

Friday, July 5, 2019

MOMMY! DADDY! There's A Monster Under the Bed!

Monsters!

Last month I wrote "Do You Believe In Magic?", a story about my children and some magic sand I bought. The response was better than I expected and I was encouraged to write more stories like that one. This is another story about the kids.

HELP!

My children are eighteen months apart in age and, until my daughter was about five or six, they shared a room. This story takes place during the time they shared the room with an uninvited roommate. It all started one night after my wife and I put the kids to bed. We had settled in to watch some television and enjoy some "quiet time" when we heard someone cry out. We went down the hall to their room to find both of them awake and scared. Apparently there was a monster, maybe even more than one, under their beds.

My wife and I each looked under a bed only to discover that the monster had gone away. We looked all over - the closet, behind the dresser, behind the curtains, you name it and we looked. When everyone was satisfied that the monster was gone I gave a stern warning to any monsters thinking about visiting the kids. We said goodnight and left them, once again, for the Sandman.

The next night, shortly after saying goodnight we were informed that the monster had returned! It would seem that the monster did not take my warning seriously and decided to test me. Once again, we searched the entire room warning the monster the entire time. The cowardly monster had fled before we could catch him. The warning was repeated, everyone got tucked into bed and the Sandman cometh.

Do I have to tell you what happened the next night? The night after that and the night after that? This damned monster was really starting to become a nuisance! I had visions of this going on for a long time and had to find a way to put an end to it, but how? Have you ever found yourself in a predicament when suddenly the answer comes to you out of nowhere? Yea, it does not happen to me very often either but it happened that night.

The Secret Weapon

I winked at my wife, told the kids I would be right back and went to my bedroom. I grabbed a pair of old work boots that I had, returned to the kids’ room and put the boots in the middle of their bedroom floor. I raised my voice and announced to the monster that I was tired of him bothering my children and I was going to stay in their room until he showed his ugly face. I whispered to the kids that the monster can see the shoes but doesn’t know they are empty so he will stay away.

We tucked them in, said goodnight and walked away praying the boots would somehow keep the monster at bay. They slept well that night but the real test was going to come tomorrow.

The next night we put them to bed but before turning out the lights, I announced that I was going to be waiting for the monster and put the boots in the middle of the floor. We went to the living room expecting to hear a scream but it never came. We gave it some time and after about an hour we checked on them – sound asleep. It worked!

I’m not sure how many nights the boots were in their room but I do know we didn’t have to worry about monsters under the beds anymore. The monsters IN the beds – well, that’s another story for another time, but they have turned into some pretty amazing adults so…. 😛




"The Roommate" - Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

"Tucked Away" - Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

"The Boots" - Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

"Sleeping" - Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay


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