Bedtime Battles... Almost finished

I am not ready to declare the bedtime battles over.  But by golly, they are so much better.  Laci was a great sleeper as a baby.  When she hit two, the bedtime ritual got a little bit longer and we started to rock a few minutes at night.  When she was two and a half, she moved bedrooms and got a big girl bed.  All heck broke loose at that point.  The battles began.  It was ugly.  For two and a half years, it was ugly.  It could be up to a two hour battle.  I can't say I always won the battle.  One of our struggles was that at daycare, she still took naps.  When she was approaching 5, she did not need naps every day.  Because she was napping, she didn't need to go to sleep early.  But I still needed her to go to sleep early.  I needed some me time.  Plus she needed to get up early for school.  It seemed like everyone else in the world had no problems with bedtime.  I usually am able to talk to my friends about our parenting problems but this one I hated talking about.  It seemed like no one could relate.  My only hope was Saturday and Sunday when she didn't have a nap.

Then kindergarten came.  I had high hopes for the magical age of 5.  It has not let me down.  She's not perfect and we still have our battles.  But I see more glimmers of maturity.  We have a really good bedtime routine.  She watched tv and plays from 7:30 - 8:30.  We read 2 books.  Then I tuck her in while she plays with her stuffed animals.  A few minutes later, she is asleep.  This is how bedtime is supposed to be.  This is what others have been talking about all this time.  It's wonderful.  Sometimes I need to go in there a few times to remind her to go to sleep.  But overall there is peace.  :)  On the weekends, she is even sleeping in until 7 or 8 am.  It's nice.

I love watching her tuck in her stuffed animals.  She has 25 (we counted) on her bed at all times and she knows exactly which ones are missing. 

We're moving Calvin over to a new room and big boy bed in a few months.  I hope that his transition goes better than Laci's.  We don't rock him to sleep now and he still goes to sleep on his own by himself so I am very hopeful and optimistic.  But on the bright side, he'll be five in just two and a half short years too!