Top 10 reasons my kids won’t go to sleep

Tonight was our mid-week Bible study so we get home pretty late. Isaiah was already drooling shortly after the lesson began and stumbled on to bed when we got home. Aaron on the other hand was still wide awake. Every night it’s the same thing. He brings us the late night Aaron entertainment show in an effort to delay the inevitable. Tonight his tactic was slightly different. My husband and I were standing in the kitchen talking when we were interrupted by a deep concern Aaron wanted to discuss.

“Mama…we need to clean out this vacuum.”

Wow… if only he was concerned about the toys that needed to be picked up!

So I add this to the list of reasons my beautiful babies won’t go to sleep. If you haven’t read my first post about our bedtime struggles keep reading on.

---

It’s Sunday night… this is the part of my week that I dread. I have a million things that I should be doing to prepare for the upcoming week.

*Does everyone have clean clothes?
*Lunchbox?
*Did I sign the papers in his “Moose” (stands for something important) binder?
*Should I stay up super late and get some of my work done so tomorrow isn’t as nauseating?

The list goes on and on.

So the topic here is bedtime routines. You know… the cute little cartoon schedule of things to do before bed posted all over Pinterest. How hard is it just to get the kids bathed, in PJ’s, brush their teeth (LOL!), prayers and actually in the bed assigned to them?

Well…it’s VERY difficult in the Mellix household. I will say we have made significant improvement now that we are attempting some better habits in the new school year. My new rule is NO TV or ELECTRONICS after 7PM on a school night to allow enough time to get everything done. It’s going ok but we still need to work on it.

Below are some of the problems we have.

Bath time = Water park
Goal: Flood bathroom floor before mom comes back

Brushing teeth = occasionally accomplished task

PJ’s = at what point do they grow out of running around my house butt naked before they finally agree to put their super hero undies on?

Prayers = this is my absolute favorite. We pray EVERY night because the kids demand it when we forget. No bad dreams about a scary bad guy they recently saw on a super hero movie or video game!

I’ll have to post some of Aaron’s “prayers from the heart”. He is a mess 🙂
Last night he prayed this “Lord, please let us get good sleep so that we can have the power to use our legs and walk tomorrow.”

Getting into the bed = why can’t they just do it?

Step 1: I’m there or daddy is there and we get through our prayers.
Step 2: Hugs & kisses for everyone.
Step 3: Fish Light is on. (Night light that projects an ocean scene on the wall and plays music that will forever be in my brain)
Step 4: Explain that if they don’t go to sleep I will begin shutting off other lights that are kept on running up my electric bill. (Closet light & hall light)

– Leave for approx. 3-5 minutes

Guaranteed one of my beautiful children will creep out of the room with a “need” or complaint.

1. I’m hungry.
2. I’m thirsty.
3. He’s bothering me.
4. I’m scared.
5. I want to sleep with you.
6. I hear the neighbors.
7. I’m not tired…I take naps at school!
8. I need a different blanket. This one isn’t soft enough.
9. He took my blanket &/or pillow.
10. I have to go potty.

This usually delays their official bedtime 20 mins to 1 hour depending on their level of perseverance. So what do other moms do with energetic little boys like mine? I’m sure the good ones are more consistent & don’t put up with as much but I’m curious to see what other strategies are out there. Comment below on how you get through bedtime routines without pulling out your hair!