I didn't sleep well on Tuesday night, which meant that Wednesday was set up for disaster. Being a full time mom is hard enough when your tanks are full, but when you're running on fumes...just...yeah. Even though this was yesterday, I'm having a hard time recalling all of the little details of the day simply because I was that tired.
The morning was full of cranky kiddos not wanting to share, being bored, refusing to eat the food set before them and just overall defiance. By the time nap time rolled around, I was just ready for a break. I put them in their beds, gave them kisses and said, "night, night!" Unfortunately, they had other plans. For a solid hour and a half, I kept going in there trying to calm them down to sleep. I tried scolding them, sitting with them, pleading with them and every other trick I could think of, but to no avail. They just wouldn't sleep.
So finally, I gave up on enforcing it and left them in their room thinking that the quiet time might be enough. That perhaps my boys didn't need a nap that day. Yeah, it didn't work. They came out of their room after I decided that they had had enough quiet time and the chaos continued. We had a few peaceful moments, but all in all they were little brats. Around 3:00, we sat down for a snack. As they ate their food, I was making Jason and I a treat of hot chocolate on the stove. I was stirring the chocolaty goodness with a whisk to ensure a smooth creamy texture. The sound of the whisk moving through the pan at a steady rhythmic pace must have been entrancing because when I turned around to look at the gents, they were both falling asleep! The realist in me knew this was not good and saw into our future the bedtime that was soon to come, but the overly exhausted, wanting to throw in the towel mom was thankful for the peace.
They slept for two hours.
We got them up, had dinner, played for a bit and then...bedtime. Jason took charge last night, but it took two full hours of "everything in the book" before they finally went to sleep. We were both left...empty. We stayed up until midnight rehashing the events of the day and went to bed feeling somewhat defeated. There was no light at the end of our tunnel...
And then God threw us a bone!
He gave us today!
I woke up this morning to the sound of the boys playing in their room (our new normal). It was about 6:30ish. I felt surprisingly refreshed, went and got them and off we went with our day. With my rested demeanor I was able to get a ton accomplished before 10:00 am! The boys were behaving and genuinely fun to be around all morning. It was great!
Nap time came, and after discussing things with Jason the night before, I put our new enforcement plan in motion. First, I tucked the boys in bed. Then I read them two books, with the stipulation that I would only read them if they stayed tucked in bed. They seemed to get the picture quick on that one. It made me smile inside like, "Holy crap! It's working!!!" Next I said it was nap time and they needed to go to sleep. I kissed them, said I loved them and walked out. Within probably 20 seconds, they were getting out of their bed, so I walked back in, said it was nap time, put them back in bed and walked out. After that, every time I went in their room I simply tucked them back in silently. I think that once they realized it wasn't a game and that I wasn't going to stop, they went to sleep. It took about 40 minutes. Now, I know 40 minutes is a long time, but honestly, after yesterday, I was thrilled that they were asleep!
The rest of the day was lovely as well. They napped for a solid two hours. We all hopped in the car and headed to town for a much "needed" ice cream treat. The boys even got their own bowl this time. Strawberry ice cream with sprinkles! They were so happy. :-) We came home and I was overcome with sleepiness, so we had some TV cuddle time. My darling husband seeing me like this was kind enough to make dinner. It was delicious! He made spinach lasagna roles and it was an all around hit with the boys! We didn't have enough spinach in the fridge, so Jason went out to our garden and added some fresh kale to it. Normally all that green stuff would be picked out, but not tonight! They ate it up! VICTORY!!!
After dinner, we commenced bedtime. They got in the tub, in which I added some lavender/chamomile essential oils to help them relax, got on their pj's, brushed their teeth, and got in bed. I read them a story with the same rule as at nap time that if they wanted me to keep reading they had to stay tucked in bed. As a side note, the book I read tonight is a personal favorite. It was a gift from their aunt and uncle. It's called "Journey" by Aaron Becker. Check it out! When the story was done, I sang their bedtime song, "Now the Light has gone away". It's a beautiful hymn my mom used to sing to me as a child. I love it. We gave kisses, said goodnight and walked out. Jason again took charge and with our new routine, the boys were quiet and asleep within 30 minutes!!!
So yeah. Night and Day. I know tomorrow could be another crazy ride, but I am so grateful for today. It's a reminder to me that parenting is not an exact science and raising twins is just another dimension to that challenge, but if you don't give up and keep adapting to what works for your family, you can have happy days like we had today. Was it perfect? Nope. But it's one that I'll put happily in the 'success' column.
We sing that hymn before bed, too. One of my favorites! So happy your new routine is working!. I hope it continues to work!
ReplyDelete