The Bedtime Production

So bedtime in our house has become quite the to do. It takes us about 45 minutes to an hour to get our kids down for the night. Yikes. I didn't realize or think much about this- but once you do one thing one time during the bedtime routine, you must be prepared to do it EVERY time because it becomes part of the "ritual". You know what I mean? So even the types of kisses we give- down to how many and the order in which they're given, have to be taken into account. Here's what we're into now- if it's a bath night, we do baths first, then get their jammies on, get their teeth brushed (and that is even a to do- one of them runs into our bedroom to get the toothpaste (I know we're lame, we only have one tube of toothpaste!), and then Teda gets to put it on the brushes, and they go to town- and do Ah's (to get the back teeth) and EE's (to get the fronts), and then sometimes we jump in and help. Then it's potty time, sometimes for Dane and sometimes not but always for Teda. Then we go into their room and Teda picks out a regular book, and Dane grabs their children's Bible. We read the book, then read the story that we left off the night before from the Bible. Then it's song time, we sing a few songs. Then it's prayer time- Dane first, then Teda, then Zach or me. Their prayers are SO adorable. Sometimes it's just a quick one, and sometimes they talk all about their day and whatever they're thinking. Last night Dane was saying thank you for some of his family members and friends, then he started talking about his day, and then he said, "There's a ball." and continued on with his prayer. I wondered why he said that, and then it became clear. He actually saw one. He then said, "There's a ball under my bed!" That was the end of his prayer- so easily distracted. Sounds like me when I pray. :)

Anyways, after prayer time, then comes the ritual part I talked about. We give kisses and hugs. I go to Dane first, and Zach goes to Teda. Here's the types of kisses that are given- kisses (that's just your standard regular kiss), noses (rub noses together), butterflies (blink eyes together), cheeks (touch cheeks together), chins (touch chins together), noggins (touch foreheads together), ears (I'll bet you can't guess what we do for ears- just kidding- yes, touch ears together- and it's both sides too for all these), pounds (we touch our fists together), teeny ones (that's a very very teeny tiny hug), and BIG ones (that's a very very big hug). Then we bring them their water cups for one more drink. And if I forget any of those things, they'll let me know for sure. Then we leave, and say that if they can stay in their beds with their eyes closed and heads on pillows, we'll come back and give them their blankets and animals (Teda blanket and little stuffed dog and Dane two bears, one little dog and a blanket). Once we've done that, we tell them that if they stay in their beds some more with their heads on pillows and eyes closed, they will get the bathroom light turned on. Then after that is the last step- quiet music (which we're convinced keeps Teda from having bad dreams) and their "princesses" (little princess snow globe). That's all she wrote for that. Isn't that a ton? I feel like it is.

I'm sure there will come a time when I miss this bedtime routine. When they can't get enough kisses and hugs. Wierd to think there may be a time when they won't even want kisses from me and Zach. Hard to believe. I think I'm just going to go on thinking that they'll always want kisses from us! :) So there you have it- our bedtime routine. Now there always is more to it than that after the kisses- someone needs to go potty again, someone is scared, someone needs a bandaid from an old owie that all the sudden hurts (so convenient huh!), they're giggling and getting out of bed, etc. Eventually they get to sleep though. Some days it's just so much, but other days it goes really smooth. So there you have it- our bedtime routine!