Bedtime (Anna)

*sigh* bedtime used to be simple. There was one baby. She might have been crying but it was just one of her.

Now, there's a whole cast of creatures that need putting to bed. They all need kisses, cups of milk, dummies, and lullabies. And they are all apparently extremely particular about how the sheet or blanket is tucked over them.

I know, I know. By tucking the bunny twins in for the 57th time, we're not really attending to the emotional needs of a piece of fabric. We're really attending to the needs of our beautiful, lovely, darling daugher and her burgeoning need to express her nurturing side (to say nothing of her neeed to see just how far she can twist her parents around her little finger). And yes, it is extremely adorable when she says "nigh-nigh" to her animals and sings them a lullaby.

Having said that, I cannot express how exasperating it is to go trudging up the stairs after bedtime when we think we are off duty to attend to a crying kid, then trudge to the bathroom to fill up a cup of water she has requested (in the interests of getting her back to sleep as quickly as possible) and then have to wait while said cup of water gets "fed" to a stuffed giraffe.

Equally exasperating is realising that the reason our child is screaming bloody murder is not because, as one might think, the roof of the house has just fallen into her bed, but rather because some unkind, insensitive Mum has given Tiny Teddy only 10 goodnight kisses, even though it is clearly apparent to anyone paying attention that he needs 11.

And then we find ourselves saying ridiculous things like, "Ok. Monkey is sleeping now. We need to be quiet so we don't wake him up. Why don't you put YOUR head down and sleep next to him?" Yeah, like that's going to help!

Toddlers!!