A few nights ago, I tried to put Pea to sleep. A pointless exercise, if there’s ever been one.
Some things to remember:
- Pea sleeps in her own bed now, in her own room.
- To put her to sleep, either my wife or I lay down in her bed with her, read her stories and give her a tall glass of milk to ease her into La-La land.
- We then lay with her until she falls asleep… we feel this is the best way to introduce her into her own bed and room after months of co-sleeping in our room.
- Unfortunately, we are extremely inconsistent with her bedtime; a long commute means we have a hard time keeping to a specific time.
Ok, so on the night in question, I actually managed to get Pea showered and in bed at a decent time. We were reading the last story at about 8pm, and I was excited at the possibility of sneaking away from her room a little earlier than usual. I was also happy at the thought that Pea would be getting a good night’s rest.
Once we put down the last book and turned out the lights, that’s when the party began. Pea clearly was not ready to go to sleep.
Here’s a rundown of the various things Pea did to get on my last nerve, and then ultimately redeem herself.
- The Pea Alligator Roll: She really seems to love rolling around and around and around trying to find a comfortable position. This is extremely annoying, especially when she does it with such glee.
- The Chanteuse: I can’t get Pea to sing “If you’re happy and you know it” during the day, but at night, shell go through every verse and ask me to fill in the actions. Same goes for “The wheels on the bus” and “Old MacDonald.” Maddening.
- The Sneak: At one point, I was on my laying towards the wall away from Pea, and I knew her head was under the blankets, which is a big no-no in our house. I told her to knock it off, and she was shocked. She climbed over top of me, grabbed me by the cheeks, and said “How you know?”, as in “How did you know I was under the covers when you couldn’t see me?” Daddy’s know everything kid. Better learn that now.
- The Inquisitor: Pea thought that, one hour into her attempt to fall asleep, it would be a good time to start with the Why? Why? Why?’s. Not cool, kid, not cool.
- The Comedian: Shortly after she finished with The Inquisitor, she began telling herself Knock-Knock jokes, from start to finish. As in, “Knock knock, who’s there, Daddy, Daddy who?, Daddy Grandma, ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!” That’s right, when she finishes the joke, she laughs heartily at her own comedic chops. Probably a trait she gets from her Dad. That’s when my anger turned to full-on belly laugh.
After her stand-up set finished, and she realized that she was making me laugh, she again grabbed me by the cheeks and asked “Daddy, are you happy?”
Damn right, kid. And imagine how happy I’d be if you had fallen asleep 90 minutes ago.
and the saga continued a few nights later with Grandma…..
This is how my night time routine went with Pea….
Pea….performed the Pea Alligator roll quite a few times.
Grandma…..Pea go dodo
Pea….tap tap on Grandma’s arm and whispers….”Grandma?”
Grandma…..Yes Pea?
Pea….need to ask Pépère question?
Grandma….No you don’t. Go dodo
Pea….sigh
Pea….tap tap on Grandma’s arm and whispers….”Grandma?”
Grandma….Yes Pea?
Pea….forgot something at Aunt Lindsey and Grandma’s house!
Grandma….no you didn’t. Go dodo
Pea….sigh
Pea….tap tap on Grandma’s arm and whispers….”Grandma?”
Grandma….yes Pea?
Pea…need snack!
Grandma….go dodo PEA!
Pea….sigh
Pea….tap tap on Grandma’s arm and whispers….”Grandma?”
Grandma….yes Pea.
Pea…..need to change diaper!
Grandma….no Pea. go dodo.
Pea performs the Alligator roll several more times and then says….”Grandma?”
Grandma….PEA GO DODO
Pea…..tap tap on Grandma’s arm and whispers….”Grandma?”
Grandma….that’s enough now. You have to go dodo.
Pea….Grandma? Sing?
Grandma…..sang until Pea went to sleep.
Grandma…..SIGH! Throat sore!
Grandma…..and a Grandma’s job is never done. Wouldn’t have it any other way!
My daughter is a night owl…has been since the day she was born.
It got to the point where I had to simple lay down some ground rules. It worked for us.
She had to get ready for bed and be in her bed by bedtime, however the door was closed and she was free to do what ever she wanted in her room till she fell asleep.
The only caveat was she was not allowed to leave her room. Baby monitor on…she sang, and played with her toys and perused her books. It was the only way we could manage it without losing our sanity. She was our second baby so we had to consider how every night our son’s sleep was being comprimised by the struggle with her each evening.
She continues to be a nightowl. She’s 25 now, works the afternoon shift, gets home around 12:30 am and gets to bed around 3:30 am.
She does it all on her own now, without disturbing Mum and Dad.
*sigh* Lucky for her she’s cute.