#16

Bedtime.

I am thankful for bedtime.  Not the fact that the boys are in their beds, all tidy and cozy in their jammies and I am free to decompress.

Actually, I love the bedtime ritual.  It is usually the one time of the day I get to spend a few quiet one on one moments with each of the them.  We snuggle up in their beds, read stories, and talk about random things that happened during the day.   It is often the time I hear Mudge's voice sing the songs he learned at school.  Or when Boog tells me about what he wants to earn after he achieves his thirty stars.  I love it when Mudge tells me to lay with him just a few more minutes, which I indulge a little.  It is just a sweet short time that I learn a little more about them, besides their spazzy crazy selves I see during the lighted hours.

I am incredibly thankful that I have those few moments to share with them, happily.

Friday Fatigue = Mudget Meltdown

I giggle sometimes when Friday comes along since I know Mudge has not had a nap alllllll week.  It's not the teacher's fault, it's not his fault, but certainly he has not grown out of them.  So by Friday, he is a wreck.  Last night he was asleep by 6:20.  Of course, he woke up at 5:30 this morning, but that was expected.

And today was no different.  As with most Fridays, we went to Papa's for supper.  Nudge, I mean Mudge, ate half his dinner and played with his brother and cousin for a bit.  He took his shower, but his mood was distinctively changing.  Like when I turned off the shower and he did NOT want that to happen.  Like when I put on the tiger towel, which was NOT the one he wanted.  Like when he told me "you're NOT gonna be my mommy anymore."  Yeah, I could see where this was going.

He went upstairs naked as a jay bird.  I tried to help him get his jammies on, but he decided NOT to wear underwear and took them off.  Then proceeded to have a hissy fit until we got home.  Awesome, I know. Probably not that different than what you may experience as well with your preschooler.  I suppose it is why I share, in hopes that I am NOT the only one, and neither are you.

And if you want a soundtrack to this experience, check out Justin Roberts' Meltdown.

YB and the Corner Blankie

Happiness is a warm blanket, Charlie Brown!~  Charles Schultz

Both of my children are Linus.  I was a Linus.  My husband was one too.  It is in our genes. We love our blankies.  Mine was a Noogie.  My mother's best friend Debbie made it for my sister, but she didn't like it.  And I attached myself to it.  They had to wait till I was sleeping to pry it off me in order to wash it.  Now I do the same for my own boys.

Boog's is the YB, short for yellow blankie.  At first, he had blue ones and only used the blues one, of which we had probably 10 varieties.  Then one day, he decided he only the yellow would do.  We had one.  Then miraculously my mother found two more exactly the same, so we could switch them out every couple of days.  It gets stinky.  He doesn't suck his thumb; instead he wraps the blankie around his thumb and shoves it in his mouth.  He has now graduated to the PB, Patriot's Blankie and gave Mudge the yellow one.  Mudge tries to be like him, shoving it into his mouth, but he gags and takes it out.  The Mudge is more of a  hand knitted blankie connoisseur.

He has MANY hand made blankets that various family members have made since his birth.  But none compare to his Corner Blankie.  He has strategically has pulled the soft cottony fibers from the edges of the blankets to create this fluff that he brushes ever so gently under the tip of his nose.  I love watching this.  He just zones out and brushes it back and forth, just like I used to do with the silk fiber of my Noogie. Funny how even the smallest details of childhood our passed through genetics...

Two Weeks and Counting till the Real Mother's Day...

No, I have actually loved being home this summer but alas it is coming down to the wire.  School starts back up for me on my son's 6th birthday. This will be the first birthday I will have missed.  Which is totally going down in the mental rolodex as things-that-should-automatically-get-a-mom-out-of-work-card.

But regardless, we still have to start getting back into school routine.  So this week is the re-initaition of sleep by 7 pm.  My kids are ogres when they don't get enough sleep. Add the stress (good and bad) of going back to school, and they are apt to have meltdowns.  Though returning to the same school, Boog will be entering first grade. AHHHHHHH! Sorry.  Just can't believe my Boog is a "grader" now.  Though, him grammatically correcting me should be a hint that he is ready to go back.  "Mom, you mean WHEN we're ready to go in the pool, not AFTER..."  My bad.

Mudge, well, he is going to Boog's school for preschool.  I am hoping for a smooth transition as he will have his big, bad older brother to protect him.  But I am also praying for his teacher, as he holds up his halo with devil horns.  Needless to say it will be an interesting year.

We are pretty lucky since back-to-school shopping only consisted of materials, on sale at Target, Staples, and whereever else had the stuff under a buck.  Boog wears a uniform, the best thing ever! And Mudge frankly doesn't need any clothes.  I bought backpacks on clearance from LL Bean a few months ago, as well as the lunch boxes from Lands End.  So I feel ready...ish.

With all that under my belt, I think I'll start Chrismakkah shopping ;)

What are your back to school preparations like???

Oh its pointless staying up for even 20 seconds more...

The day is done

The sun is down

The curtains have been drawn

And darkness has descended over everything in town

The covers have been turned and I've got my pajamas on

I've had my fun

I've stretched and yawned and all is said and done

I'm going to bed

Bed bed bed bed bed

It's funny that I discuss the boys' sleep routine since I totally messed them up last night. You see our bedtime routine is very regimented. If we veer far from it, we pay dearly with crankiness, late risers on school days, or in the Mudget's case, way too early rising.  Like today, after going to be close to 9 last night, he woke up at 630 ish and then fell asleep on me around 730 for another hour.  I know tomorrow, they will both want to sleep till 8. It reminds me like when you hit 30, you are sore two days after a workout.  Same theory....

Anyway, bedtime routine starts at supper. Eat. Very integral part, can't go to bed hungry. Then bath, jammies, show, tickle teeth, sneaky peeps, story, and finally... sleep. And it has been like this for five years. By seven, both boys are in bed. Boog is a 12 hour sleeper. Any less than that there will be hell to pay. Mudget enjoys 10 or less, and even though we try.

At first, it put a damper on social gatherings because we would try to keep them to within a half hour to their bed times regardless of where we were. We were always leaving early.  Its seven, time to go and put the kids to bed.  But now as they are getting older, we have introduced a little more flexibility into the routine, which does continue to bite us in the butt, but ya gotta live a little.  And I have learned that as much as I like MY sleep, I will have to wait until they are in their teens to get to sleep in...

They Might Be Giants
Bed, Bed, Bed and other music available on iTunes