Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

About a month ago I started a bedtime routine with my son.  It starts with brushing our teeth.  At eight o’clock I tell him its time to brush our teeth.  Usually, he will drop whatever he is doing and run to the bathroom saying, “teef, teef.”  With great effort and a humorous choppy grunt that sounds like “uh-huh-huh-uh” of Lorain Swanson from Mad TV, he pulls himself onto the closed toilet seat and waits while I put toothpaste on his toothbrush.  We have a little bit of a power struggle at this point because he wants to do everything by himself and grabs for the toothbrush right away.  I persist until I’ve gotten the brush to all of his teeth and then let him have at it while I brush my own teeth.  We usually play a copy cat game, where I’ll make different sounds while brushing and he tries to do the same.

After our teeth are brushed, he runs into the living room and gives everyone a kiss goodnight.  Then he dashes into the bedroom and closes his door.  We hop onto the rocking chair and read a book of his choice. Sometimes we read for ten minutes, sometimes it is only for two or three.  Then he points to the light switch and it is time for the lights to go out.  I carry him over to the switch and he hits the lights. 

With the lights out, we get back into the rocking chair and say our prayers and then he lays back with a blanket (he calls it a night-night) and I tell him a bedtime story.

I really became interested in the idea of telling a bedtime story just before I started the bedtime routine. I have been fiddling around with an imaginary world that hopefully will be big enough to house any adventures that he and I can create.  I have created a couple of characters that I use now and I’m just practicing with the stories.  He is really too young to understand to follow the stories, but it sooths him and he listens until he falls asleep or decides it is time for bed.  When he decides he is ready for bed he will point to his crib and I know it is time to give him a kiss goodnight, to tell him I love him and help him settle in.

I look forward to the day that starts recognizing the characters and suggests what they do.  I hope this tradition becomes a memory he grows up with and continues with his own children. Maybe he’ll even use some of the same characters.

 Do you have any bedtime routines?