A few Rants...

This post is a hodge podge of thoughts, stories, wonders and complaints...Happy Reading!

It's Thursday night, the night my hubby most weeks goes out for beers with his buddies.  I love Thursdays!  Not because I am glad my husband isn't home, I love when he is, but I am proud of our marriage and our freedoms within our marriage.  I go out about once a week as does he with our friends.  I think it is an important aspect for us.  It is so easy to have everything be all about the other person and although I would love to spend every minute of every day and night with my husband (ha, ok totally kidding) I am glad we have our own lives, friends and interests.  Plus, Thursday nights, once the kids are in bed it's just me and a quiet house.  I enjoy it and often times my toughest decision on Thursday nights are should I go to sleep early OR stay up just to stay up and watch my TV in quiet.  I can't complain, my kids do typically nap at the same time everyday so I get this frequently enough, but something about night time makes it more magical, more quiet, more relaxing?

Rant #1 - A Quick Bed Time Story...

Once upon a time there was an adorable, blonde haired boy with bright blue tired eyes.  He had played all day with cars and airplanes, he had a good dinner and a nice warm bath, he was tired and he WENT TO BED!

See, see how quick that was?!?!  Now, what about THAT process can be so difficult to understand?  Have you ever seen the movie Date Night?  There is a part in it that Tina Fey talks about "pajama time" and how every night all the kids cry when it is time for "pajamas" like it is a BIG surprise even though it happens every night...Our bed time routine with Blake is a little bit of a car wreck.  It use to be SO simple!  People would compliment me on how easy he went to bed.  He was tired, he got his Lovie and Binky and went to sleep, not a peep, not a whine.  My oh my how things have changed!  Our nightly routine goes something like this:

7:25pm - Blake you have 5 more minutes then it is bed time. "okay"
7:30pm - Ok, let's head down.  Pick out what toys you want to sleep with (yes toys, early on we caved one night when Blake had found a new favorite toy and the thought of parting with it overnight was heartbreaking SO now, toys in bed...*insert eye roll*)
7:35pm - Blake quit running in the hall and come in the bathroom to go potty and brush your teeth
7:38pm - "I swallowed the toothpaste!" - (literally EVERY night, he thinks its funny!)
7:40pm - Ok, to bed for books
7:50pm - Alright Blake last book then we are going to lay with you and we are not coming back down here or we will take away your toys.
7:55pm - The last few minutes we (Brian and I) lay with Blake in bed.  It is my FAVORITE part of the day!  We use to do a shadow puppet show but now it has just evolved into a time to talk, laugh, snuggle, etc.
8:00pm - Ok, we have read books, you have gone potty, you have had water, you have brushed your teeth, you are ready for bed and we are NOT coming back down here.  If we do, we are taking your toys.
8:01pm - "mommy" I cant find my (insert toy here)
8:01pm - Blake we are not coming down there, find it yourself or go to bed and we will find it in the morning - goodnight we love you
8:03pm - "mommy, I am thirsty"
8:03pm - Blake you already had a drink of water, go to bed
8:03pm - "but I am SO thirsty, pleeease"
8:03pm - ok get in the bathroom and get a drink then GO TO BED
8:04pm - "mommy, I love you" (his sweet little voice totally gets me BUT it is a ploy and I know it)
8:04pm - I love you too, goodnight buddy
8:05pm - "mommy what did you say?"
8:05pm - I SAID GOODNIGHT NOW GO TO BED
8:06pm - WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
8:07pm - Blake, it is late you have to go to sleep, I love you goodnight

Quiet.

Ugh, I am exhausted even from typing all of that and literally it is every night!  Oddly enough, not when one of us is gone, but when we are both here we are clearly the loosing team.  Kids learn to stall so fast it is amazing!  Truth is, it isn't all that bad and although there are some night I can NOT stand to talk to him one more time, all in all, when he opens his door and I hear his tiny voice just wanting to get one more minute with us for the day...I smile.  After talking with my friends I know I am not the only one in this situation and I know I will look back on it and laugh, but for now- just GO TO BED!

Rant #2 Mother Bear:

Sometimes one of the biggest struggles I face as a parent is how much to protect my children.  Blake is 3 1/2 years old and there are A LOT of things he is not ready for.  He is a very smart kiddo.  I know every parent thinks their kid is smart, but well, mine is ;)  We had a conversation about boat anchors tonight that would BLOW your mind!  He asks real questions and he wants real answers and sometimes those answers are too truthful for a 3 1/2 year old.  Brian and I try to answer even the most difficult questions with age appropriate answers but it is proving to be the most challenging thing I have ever done (and I know it is only going to get worse and it scares me to death).

Exhibit A:

A few weeks ago, Blake's cousin Tommy gave us a box of books and inside was a musical book called "Bible Songs".  Blake LOVES this book!  There is about 20 songs and his favorite is Jacob's Ladder.  It talks about following Jacob's ladder and going higher and higher into heaven and it shows a bunch of angels with wings.  Blake's first question day 1 was what are wings and why do they have them?  Fair enough and the answer was easy.  Day 2 was about where the angels were (heaven) and why they are there.  Well, today(day 3) his question was about one of the angels in particular, a little boy.  He asked "why was a little boy died and in heaven?"  I paused for a moment and skirted around the question just by stating that "well, he went to heaven and got his wings", he asked me again "but did he died?"  I said "well, yes because that is when  you get to go to heaven".  I tried to keep the conversation upbeat and light but I felt so sad inside thinking about the fact that yes, little kids do sometimes die and go to heaven.  Yes, these are things that are true and Blake will learn but why now?  This is a VERY age appropriate book but there are still bad things all around that need to be explained to a curious little boy.  A boy who is three and the worst thing in the world is when someone takes a toy of his.  I wish I could keep it that simple for him in life but I know I can't and that makes me sad.  There are SO many other thing lately that I have thought about along this line, but this is one that stood out tonight.

Ok, I am off to enjoy my "quiet" - thanks for reading!