Dream World

I'm sittting on the couch, snuggled under a blanket with my little princess... technically, we're watching a Charlie's Angels marathon.  But I thought I'd multi-task and blog at the same time.

Sammie's being super sweet today.  Right now as I'm typing, Sammie's patting my back and telling me, "It's okay baby, let the burpies out" (Huh?)  But I have to be honest... the sweet little girl drives me nutty at bed time.  When she gets tired, she gets so silly, squirrelly and squirmy.  And since she spent the first 4 years of her life not sleeping at night... you can imagine that when she pulls the normal 6 year old bedtime nutball routine, I get a little nervous.

Last night, she was bouncing all over her bed and just would not settle down, I started thinking that I should be enjoying these moments.  I mean that's what old people tell me in the grocery store..."Enjoy it, they'll be grown up before you know it" or "You'll be missing them someday."  I had a momentary twinge of nursing memories... this was so much easier when I could plop into the rocker and placate her with some fresh jus de boobie.  She'd just fall asleep...nestled next to me, but I can't say, I really miss nursing at all.  I mean I'm not sorry I did it, I'm glad I did it (for 2 1/2 years!), but I'm happy that it's behind me.

Earlier today, I was thinking... what do I need to change about our bedtime routine, so that Sammie is more calm and settled down when we get to the lights out point.  For the record, bedtime routine is about 1 hour long involving baths after dinner, some family time, and individual snuggles with Mom and Dad up in their rooms. It's complex... but it completely works for Sean.  Considering also, that most days, Steve is just rolling into the garage at bath time, it's our time with Steve in the evening.  The more I think about it... our evening routine is pretty solid... it's just Sammie... she's part squirrel, part Tasmanian Devil... and I'm in a dream world to think that I could mix up anything that would work very long.

I came to this conclusion when I was cleaning out some drawers in the kitchen.  I found a little index card where I'd written down on of my previous solutions, just in case it worked long term.  I'm a little anal, in case you hadn't noticed.  Anyway, thought I'd share it... since it did work for about 6 months... then it turned into a "tell me more Mama!" fiasco.  I'm no poet, but it brought a smile to my face remembering when this worked.

Blast Off to Dream World...

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1
Blast off... [quiet]
Past the moon, and past the stars
Out past Jupiter and out past Mars.
we're blasting off to Dream World.

Where Shall We Go?
Ahhh... I see it... the _________________ planet. [insert planet name like "Sparkly Pink Dance Planet"]
And when we land, they'll greet us.
"Hello ______________"
and give us _____________________ ["big hugs" "cookies" "princess wands"... you get the idea]
Then we'll ______________________ ["dance all night" "eat popcorn and drink rootbeer"]
And when we've had enough fun,
we'll climb back aboard our rocket ship and come home
Tomorrow, we'll  be happy and rested
and we'll __________________ [insert tomorrow's plans].
Close your eyes and wait for your dream.  Good Night.