Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Ummm...Who Are These Girls and What Have They Done With MY Children?

It's 6:55.

Both girls are in bed and quiet.

Huh.

I'm on my own for a few days this week, and handling bedtime alone with two toddlers can be...tricky.

Is it possible they're not ganging up on me?


However, the past two nights, I have two girls, in bed, with no crying, by 7:00.

7:00 and the evening is my own.

Um, wow. Seriously?

Usually Reagan goes upstairs around 6:15, has her bath, drinks some milk, and goes in her crib without complaint. If she hasn't napped well, she'll be really fussy during dinner and through her bath, but she'll still go down happily.

When Adam's home, Madison plays with him after dinner. Sometimes they watch a show, sometimes they play board games, sometimes they golf.  When he's not home, I let her choose a show, or let her choose a special "big girl" toy to play with while I'm occupied with Reagan.

This week, Reagan has been heading up the stairs on her own as soon as the clock flips past 6:00, and once Madison hears water running, she's been abandoning her "big girl" activity and dashing upstairs, calling that she needs to take a bath with her sister! Two girls together! In the tub! By the time she makes it in the bathroom, she's half naked and ready to pee and get in the tub.

When Madison takes a solo bath, she drags that sucker out as long as she can. She fills and pours cups of water, she "washes the dishes", she plays with her mermaids. We give her a five minute warning, we drain the tub, and we still have to fight her out.

This week, I've been taking Reagan out and telling Madison she can stay and play as long as she wants (since she's upstairs at least a half hour earlier than usual).

And as soon as Reagan's out, Madison is right behind her. She's not negotiating which towel she wants, she's not fighting at all. She's running down to her room on her own and pulling out pajamas while I put Reagan in her crib.

Reagan is settling quickly. She isn't drinking much milk, she's just taking a few sips and then holding her hand out for her binks. Once she has those in hand, she's closing her eyes.

I head to Madison's room, and she's half dressed. I help her, and she wants to play one round of a board game.  Tonight, she chose Candy Land.

She got the chocolate picture on Candy Land and kicked my butt within 10 cards of starting. Game lasted about a minute.

After it was over, she gave me a hug and kiss, ran over to her crib and tried to climb in. Asked for her book, her music, a tissue, and told me goodnight.

And just like that, bedtime was over.

OK, I'm sure all of you with kids hate me right now. I'd hate me too. I swear, I have no idea why this is happening. I'm really afraid that by putting it in writing, I've just annoyed the universe and it will make sure that things change.

Last night I was sure it was going to backfire on me. Someone would be wide awake and crying in the middle of the night, they'd be up at the crack of dawn, they'd refuse to nap today.

Nope. They were up at 7:00, which gave me time to shower and get my coffee. They both napped for two hours this afternoon.

OK, who are these children????

And more importantly, when is this coming back to bite me?

Winner of Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures has been chosen via a random number generator. Check your email - I let the winner know tonight! I was so glad to see so many new readers from Amber's blog! I hope you stick around!
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