We are trying something new at bedtime. We have been doing The One Year Bible (for kids) before bed each night. And they kids really LOVE it. They look forward to it and they remind us on the days we forget. In addition to the devotion, the kids take turns being the one who gets to pray and pick the song we'll sing. Then we do hugs and kisses and 'officially' start the bedtime routine. And every night, it's the same long, drawn out 30 minute battle to get four kids to go potty, brush their teeth, put their jammies on and get a drink. It just really wasn't working for us. So we decided to try a new tactic. Change up the routine a bit. Now, I don't really like the thought of the kids not being a part of devotions at night; HOWEVER, it is a privilege. Now we have a new rule. When it's time to start bedtime, we set the timer for 7 minutes. I just pulled the number out of the air-it seemed like a sufficient amount of time for all four of them to get themselves ready for bed-which they are all more than capable of. If they are not completely done (except for hugs and kisses) when the timer goes off, they have to go straight to bed, whether they have finished their drinks or finished brushing their teeth (settle down-their little teeth will be fine if they miss a night or two!). They will still get hugs and kisses but they do not get to participate in devotions. Last night, everyone was done in time. Tonight, not so lucky.
Tonight was Olivia's night to miss devotions. She and Abbey had been fighting in the bathroom over the sink. So I went in there and told them that they were done and just had to go to bed. Abbey started bawling (it was her night to pray and pick the song), so I relented with her, even though she was already given a one minute penalty on her 7 minutes for something else right before this. I was not so kind to Olivia. All she had done was go potty. She still didn't have her jammies on. She may or may not have brushed her teeth; because she and Abbey were fighting I am not 100% sure she actually brushed hers. And she hadn't gotten a drink.
So I took her into her room and helped her put her jammies on. I put her in bed and told her that she didn't get to be a part of devotions tonight. She started saying something about Abbey not letting her do something. I explained to her that the timer had gone off and she hadn't even put her jammies on yet. She looked upset but said very weakly "OK." Then her face started to contort and she managed "But I don't want to be a penguin!" before she burst into tears. You see, the jammies I put on her had penguins on them. And she was OBVIOUSLY tired and just needed a good cry. I just found it amusing that those were her last words before she broke down because prior to this we hadn't discussed at all what jammies I was putting on her.
No comments:
Post a Comment