The Art of the Bedtime Routine

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Matty has been having a hard time falling asleep at night unless we lay with him…and even then he resorts to violence before finally succumbing to the overwhelming feeling of tiredness.  So about a week or so ago I decide not to lay down next to him.  But before I left, I told him that if I heard him walking around I would have to come turn off his lamp.  He looked at me really funny and asked, “How can you hear me dad?”  To which I responded, “Dad hears everything.”  He gave me a look that was part awe, part sarcasm…like he didn’t know if he should be impressed or if he should call me out for my obvious exaggeration.  Later that night I heard him walking around in his room, so I went up the stairs to turn off his light.  He heard me coming and the next thing I hear is thump, thump, thump, pause, bed springs bouncing like crazy.  I went inside his room and found him still bouncing from the impact of launching himself across his room, just before I walked through the door.  He laughed…because he knew I didn’t catch him.  I gave him a warning about getting out of bed and then went on with our night.

 

The next night he was doing the same thing.  Only this time I calmly and stealthily glided up the stairs to his room.  He didn’t see me coming and he practically flew across the room as he went crashing into his bed when I appeared in the doorway.  He was so freaked out.  He looked at me and asked, “How did you get here?”  I told him that, like I told him the night before, dad hears everything.  His eyes got really big and he promised he would stay in his bed.

 

The next night, we tried the same tactic.  This time, when I told him that I would need to come upstairs and turn off his light if he was walking around, he turned to me and said, “Dad, don’t sneak up on me okay?!”  I almost laughed out loud!  I asked him why I should sneak up on him, was it because he needed time to jump back into bed before I got there.  With the innocence of a 4-year-old, he said, “Yeah dad, and because I don’t like being scared.”  (Everyone all at once… AHHHH…So Cute!!)