Cole was in a bad car accident two weeks ago (details in another post) and that night we were hanging out in bedroom before the kids' bedtime and K was searching for her soother (she calls it her sooze) so she could go to bed and she couldn't find it. I knew the living room was a huge mess and it was unlikely we were going to find it soon. K started having a huge fit and we decided since she was already mid-fit we would just go with it. So she had a 5 minute temper tantrum, then we brushed her teeth, sang her bedtime songs and said night time prayers and put on her music and she went to sleep. She was sad but we told her she was a big girl and she didn't need her sooze. She should snuggle her baby, listen to her music and go to sleep. We weren't expecting it to work. We anticipated many nights of troubled sleeping and big tears. Turns out, she just needed the five minute tantrum and she was good to go. She looked upset and for a night or two she still asked for it, but there was no more fits, no more big tears. The cord had been cut and she decided to deal. She's always been our trooper. She takes new, difficult situations in stride. The funny thing is, Cole found her sooze wrapped up in her blankets before bed but decided since we had already committed to just slip it in his pocket.
The big downfall of no more soother has been no more nap time. She's not tired enough to fall asleep right away but when she had her sooze she could lie there and soothe herself into a sleep. Now she has nothing to do and isn't falling asleep. So we're instituting quiet time. She gets the personal DVD player with a movie and a blanket set up on her floor of a few toys and she gets to either chill on her bed with the movie or play with some toys for an hour and half every afternoon. It's going pretty good. The set up is special enough that she looks forward to it everyday and she's getting really good about staying in her room without asking to come out. She LOVES The Jungle Book and even though I offer other movies to switch it up, she wants The Jungle Book everyday. I know this is typical of toddlers, but it is super nice raising kids this generation because they can watch the same movie over and over on a separate device than the family room one so us parents don't have to listen to the same movie everyday. Today she even asked about "nap time" (that's what she calls quiet time) two hours before it was even time for it. So she's happy, I'm happy, and I still get some peace and quiet to myself while B naps.
Bye-bye sooze!
 |
| the last sooze picture I took |
No comments:
Post a Comment