Bedtime stories

When Liv was a baby, going to bed was no problem. Actually she came home from Guatemala fully trained. You just laid her in the crib, she would whimper for a minute, then she would play happily in her crib until she fell asleep. This was the routine for quite awhile. But somewhere between two and three years old the routine somehow extended itself. Actually now the routine is so long and filled with so many steps that it literally is a song and dance routine.
So here it is, the steps to putting Liv to bed, in case anyone wants to babysit and go through this marathon.
1) Say goodnight to Daddy, if Vinay is home. This is usually the point that Vinay will ask Liv for a kiss and a hug, then pick her up and start a conversation with her. Yes very cute I know, but come on Vinay, I finally got her to stop playing and now you want to distract her, your killing me with this step. This can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes, before I start yelling at the both of them.

2) March up the stairs. I use to carry her up, but now that she's three she insists on walking. My back thanks her for this, but the walk up usually includes a stop to pick up a piece of fuzz, or a run back to say goodnight to daddy, again, or take a seat on the steps to ponder over the days events. This is where the march came in. I start saying "March March March March" and she will usually march right behind me in sync. This can take 1-3 minutes.

3) The potty, wash hands, brush teeth. We go straight to the bathroom, Liv hops on the potty, This will go quick, unless the words, "Mommy poopies coming" are uttered, then I know I'm in there for the next 20 minutes just waiting for NOTHING to come out!!! Wash hands is next in this step and usually Liv will have to wait until all the soap bubbles have gone down the drain. Brushing her teeth can be challenging, but not as challenging as it for her to decide which one out of the 5 toothbrushes to use. Dora, Elmo, Thomas the train, electric Pokemon, or my toothbrush. Decisions decisions!!!! This step takes 5-25 minutes.

4)Put on pajamas. This step is skipped since most days Liv has chosen to wear pajamas all day! 0 Minutes

5)Story time. This was the evil step that started it all. Many moons ago, when I said "bedtime" to Liv she would stop playing, and bring a book to Vinay to read her in the family room. How this got moved to the bedroom and became my job is a mystery I'll never figure out. For a long time we were reading Clifford the Big Red Dog. But since the Disney phase, it is either, The Little Mermaid, or Aladdin. Luckily I have always read her my own personal abridged version, so this is usually not too bad, but if she asks for a Clifford book that I don't know by heart, it can tack on a few extra minutes. Takes 5-8 minutes

6) Pile on the blankets and turn up the music. Liv loves to sleep bundled. This is the shortest of the steps, unless one of her many blankets is missing, or the batteries to her CD player have died. Then it's a hunt for the missing blanket and God forbid if we are out of batteries. An unpredictable step this can take 1-30 minutes

7) Closing the door. This is where the song comes in, sometimes it's a good night song that I just made up one day. Other times it's a version of Ariel's "Part of your world". I have a horrible voice, and by this point I usually can hear Vinay snickering downstairs. About 1 minute since I will only sing one verse!

Seven steps wow I'm exhausted just looking at this. You think it's over don't you. Oh no no no.

On many a night there are numerous calls through the monitor. Vinay sometimes takes over these steps because I just can't handle another walk up those steps.

8) "Mommy a drink" Most nights I let her go to bed with a water bottle, but if it runs out I will get a call.

9) "Mommy eat eat" Now since Liv is a bad eater I will usually make her eat something before bed, but so many nights she will call for a snack, so I will go back up there with crackers or a dry cereal. Yes I bring up room service, such a bad habit. Order up!!!!

10) "Mommy Mommy" This is a call because something fell out of the crib. Oh did I forget to write she still sleeps in a crib.

11) "Mommy go home, go home" This is a call if we are sleeping anywhere but home.

12) "Moooommmmmyyyyy" This call can be anything. The CD stopped working, I can't find my favorite doll under all my junk, I've been playing in here for 5 minutes and I don't want to go to sleep.

On a good night I only get 1 or 2 calls, but on a bad night this can take about 30minutes. Now don't get me wrong I love being able to put Olivia to bed. I remember how badly I longed for that little girl to be asleep here in this home, And I know one day she'll be a teenage going to bed without so much as a "Good night Mom". But if I could just shorten the process by 20-30 minutes I would be a very happy Momma!!!

So there it is in black and white, our bedtime routine, anyone want to sleep over!!!!!!!!!