Bedtime quirks

Staying on the subject of bedtime protocol, kids have their own quirks when it comes to falling asleep. Some of them want the night light on or the ceiling fan on. Some want the comfort of holding the parent's hand ( mostly moms get sucked into this). Some want books and others want lullabies. For a very long time, we used to sing to our son at bedtime, for which I have my father to blame. This is something he started when Abhay was an infant that we later continued only to realize how difficult it was to wean him from this dependency. I still remember, every night, my husband and I used to argue over whose turn it was to strain vocal chords for our son to fall asleep. After a few lullabies, the only person to doze off would be either me or my husband and Abhay ever alert for the next song on his play-list! Sometimes, before we can finish off the last line of the song, he would blurt out his next request! This is when we decided to end our late night music recitals and go for something easier – reading books!

As a sequel to last night’s bunny series, I read “Bedtime Bunnies” by Wendy Watson. As the day ends, the bunnies are hurried indoors in preparation for bedtime. They are seen making the same sounds as our little ones do or we hope they do while getting ready to wind up for the day – gobble, crunch, munch dinner followed by sip, slurp and gulp down their drink to wash, scrub and brush their teeth and readying to zip, button and slip into their pajamas to snuggle and giggle over a bedtime book after which they jump, bounce and climb on to their bed to end the day with hug and kiss 'good night'! Wish it were that simple right??