Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Back to school - back to normal!

The Christmas break has been wonderful. Full of laughter, fun, good times with friends & family, and my all-time favorite activity - sleeping in and staying up late!

All good things come to an end though, don't they?

Starting on Friday, we decided it was time to get the girls back on track and start with the normal bedtime routine.
Carys was easy to transition - bedtime at 8pm. No problemo. She's pretty agreeable.
Cailyn? Not so easy.

She is my dependent one. She is my shadow, where ever I go - even in the bathroom.
She has been coming to our room in the wee hours of the morning for so long. And when we're too tired, we let her fall asleep in our bed, with good intentions of moving her to her own once she's sound asleep. However, it hardly ever happens that way since Chad & I were just too tired to get up once the sleepyhead finally gives up her slumber-fight each night.

Friday started a new routine for her too. It has been so hard, full of tears. She just cries & cries when it's bedtime. It's heart-breaking.

But she has slept in her own bed for the last three nights - even though it has taken HOURS to get her to go to sleep most of the time. Bedtime at 8pm, and she usually falls asleep at 11pm. I can't tell you how many "I firsty!", "I need to potty!", "I scawwed of da monstuh!" we've heard in the last three days.

Twenty-one days to form a new habit right? Ah, well. We're still early in the process. We are going to make it stick though. She's a feisty sleeper - kicking and moving all about. Chad & I have the bruised ribs (and Chad a bruised eye, I'm sure) to prove it.


Carys wasn't thrilled to go to school this morning once she realized her teacher was out today with her own sick children. She had a substitute and I could tell she was a bit nervous to stay there today. But she did. And I'm sure she's having a great time!

So, back to normal days - working, cooking, cleaning & playing with CaiCai until it's time to pick Carys up (which is, of course, right in the middle of Cailyn's ideal naptime - grrr!).

3 comments:

Carla said...

Good luck with Cailyn's sleep routine...I remember Hannah was difficult to keep out of our bed also when she was a baby. Hang in there. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Even in your sleep deprived, exhausting moments...their is a light!!! Happy sleeping!

Anonymous said...

Hang in there. It will get better. If it wasn't for the monster spray that kept the monsters away every night I would have had a lot more sleepless nights than I did!
LOL

Candace said...

Oh, girl, I hear you about the school day ending right in the middle of naptime.. grrrrr.. On the days Emma does not go to school, Noah's naptime starts around 12:30 and ends around 3, but I have to pick her up from school at 2:15, so those days are just... interesting... :)