If you've read all the books, followed the methods or listened to the advice of others...it can sometimes drive you mad.
Take for instance, how to get your kids to sleep through the night.
Our oldest son is nine which means that between the night he was born and last night, that would make oh...well...around nine years straight of sleepless nights for us.
Oh, it's not because of him anymore, no. He sleeps through the night just fine. He just happened to pass the torch down to his little brother, then onto his little brother and then finally to our Anti-Sleeping Beauty. (Disney has yet to create the animated film version for this particular Princess.)
The three boys actually all sleep pretty well and with regularity at this point...but our daughter? She's the one. Night after night, the sound of little feet "pitter pattering" down the hall takes on a whole new meaning.
One in the morning, three in the morning, five in the morning...it never ends. We can put her back in her bed twenty times a night but she just keeps coming in. Her tiny hands climb up the side of our bed as she tries to sneak in between us with her Ninja like moves. That's when she begins her sleep routine of a kick, knee, punch to our head and backs.
So...to the books we go, looking for words of wisdom. We read that it's important to give children positive "intrinsic" rewards for desired behaviors. I used to subscribe to this notion before we actually HAD kids, thinking that we would always give them positive reinforcement through words and happy feelings as opposed to "extrinsic" rewards such as candy or treats. Ummmm, yeah.
If I could get three nights in a row of solid, uninterrupted sleep...real sleep where there are actual dreams and no drop kicks to the head...I would take our kids to the Hershey factory and let them swim around in a barrel of M&M's.
Until that day, I keep reminding myself that there will come a time when all four kids go to bed, fall asleep, stay asleep and actually wake up (dare I say it?) past six o' clock in the morning.
One can dream anyway...oh no wait... * kick *
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Take for instance, how to get your kids to sleep through the night.
Our oldest son is nine which means that between the night he was born and last night, that would make oh...well...around nine years straight of sleepless nights for us.
Oh, it's not because of him anymore, no. He sleeps through the night just fine. He just happened to pass the torch down to his little brother, then onto his little brother and then finally to our Anti-Sleeping Beauty. (Disney has yet to create the animated film version for this particular Princess.)
The three boys actually all sleep pretty well and with regularity at this point...but our daughter? She's the one. Night after night, the sound of little feet "pitter pattering" down the hall takes on a whole new meaning.
One in the morning, three in the morning, five in the morning...it never ends. We can put her back in her bed twenty times a night but she just keeps coming in. Her tiny hands climb up the side of our bed as she tries to sneak in between us with her Ninja like moves. That's when she begins her sleep routine of a kick, knee, punch to our head and backs.
So...to the books we go, looking for words of wisdom. We read that it's important to give children positive "intrinsic" rewards for desired behaviors. I used to subscribe to this notion before we actually HAD kids, thinking that we would always give them positive reinforcement through words and happy feelings as opposed to "extrinsic" rewards such as candy or treats. Ummmm, yeah.
If I could get three nights in a row of solid, uninterrupted sleep...real sleep where there are actual dreams and no drop kicks to the head...I would take our kids to the Hershey factory and let them swim around in a barrel of M&M's.
Until that day, I keep reminding myself that there will come a time when all four kids go to bed, fall asleep, stay asleep and actually wake up (dare I say it?) past six o' clock in the morning.
One can dream anyway...oh no wait... * kick *
Please click the picture of this Mom for a Vote! Thank You!
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