Like most parents, I have a bedtime routine that I do with my children every night. Each child is different because they are at different stages and need different things. My baby’s bedtime routine is simple; he gets a diaper change, a pajama change, and lots of snuggles. While my toddler’s routine is a little bit more involved.
Every night I take my toddler to the bathroom before bedtime. He goes potty in the toilet, gets a treat, and then heads upstairs for bed. We change into pajamas, brush teeth, read two stories, say our prayers, and then get a kiss goodnight. Seems like a lot, right?
There used to be more. For a while we included about 20-30 minutes of television right before bed time, but discovered that this only riled him up more. The point of a bedtime routine is to wind down and prepare for bed, not energize my child, so the television show part of the routine had to go.
Some nights the routine includes a bath and some nights it includes board games. What we do after the baby goes to sleep for the night changes on a daily basis, but the basic bedtime rituals are the same. These rituals and routines take about 30 minutes from beginning to end to complete. This seems like a good bedtime routine to me.
Well apparently it is not enough. I went to check on my son last night before heading to bed and I discovered William lying in bed covered in books. There were books piled up all over his bed and on the floor next to his bed where they must have fallen off.
I can hear him tinkering around upstairs after I say goodnight and I know that he is playing. He always goes to sleep and always seems to manage to crash on his bed these days {as opposed to the toy chest, under his bed, or right in front of the door}. I had no idea that he was sitting in bed reading story after story every night. I must say that I find this extremely entertaining.
I am so glad that my children love to read; now I just wish they liked to sleep too!
Project 366 Day 52 of One Photo A Day
