Bedtime Routine
As I'm settling down for the night after getting the kids ready for bed, I feel like I need to share a little about what our night is like.
Around 6:00 pm, I start asking everyone what they want for dinner. Now, if I were a better planner, I would already know what was for dinner and I could probably save 10 minutes of whining about over what they do and don't want for dinner. We aren't your good American family that sits down at the dinner table to all enjoy the same meal.....No. I usually end up fixing the kids something, and then us something.
The kids meal options are very limited. Not because I force them eat the same thing every day, but because these are the only things they like to eat.......Mac and cheese, Spaghetti-Os, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, quesadillas, yogurt and granola bar, peanut butter sandwich.....you get the idea. We will usually add in a side of some sort of fruit or veggie. Joshua LOVES cuties. He would eat oranges all day long if I let him. Ellie LOVES green beans. Charlotte will usually eat anything I tell her to, and usually doesn't have too much of an opinion on what I put in front of her. One thing that the kids know, if they don't eat what I fix them the first time, then they don't eat.
So after we get dinner settled, and everyone has eaten, usually they like to go play outside for a bit. I really like the fact that our kids love to be outside. When I was younger, my siblings and I were always outside playing, and I can remember the fun things we'd come up with. One night, we were outside playing soccer, barefoot mind you, and I kicked the ball so hard I broke my middle toe. It was so crooked that we had to go have it set back into place. Can you say OUCH?!
Around 8:00 pm is usually when we start our bedtime routine. I'm going to be quite honest and say that my kids do not get a bath every night. At one point, maybe two children ago, they would get a bath every single night because I couldn't stand the thought of them being "dirty". Well....let me tell you, it is damn near impossible to add four baths/showers in every.single.night and still have any sort of time left. Our bath/shower schedule kind of depends on the activities of the day. I don't like to put them to bed with any sort of sunscreen on their skin, so if they'd had sunscreen applied, they will always get a bath or shower. Joshua is very sensitive to sunscreen so his eyes will water and his nose will run until he has had a bath. I have been known to stick feet and hands in the sink to rinse them off before bed and called it a night. Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day and bath/showers usually suffer. I imagine this will get a bit easier as they become a little more proficient in washing themselves.
The older girls can brush their teeth without any assistance, and Joshua can as well but I usually try to go back over it with the toothbrush when he is done. If I'm lucky, then Norah has already fallen asleep by this point so I don't have to worry about her being right up under foot. We AIM to be in bed by 8:30.....but like most nights, it doesn't happen until closer to 9:00. It is currently 9:04 and Joshua is in his room whining for me, and I can hear Charlotte in her room singing. Getting up in the morning should be FUN!
I'm off to check on a little 2 year old that doesn't like to sleep in his own bed.
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