Day 10 - Evening

Many nights I am on my own putting all three kids to bed because Alex is still on campus. When that’s the case, I almost always put on a short 30 min show for the older two while I put Anna down. I’ve tried so many times not to resort to the television, but when I don’t, they almost always barge into Annie’s room and wake her up, or they dirty up their newly cleaned room. My nerves just can’t handle it sometimes!

And why is it that almost every night when the lights are off, and I’m singing songs trying to get them to settle down, Lucy decides that now would be the perfect time to “exercise”?! Her version of exercise includes slamming her legs down on her bed, twisted somersaults, flapping her arms, and kicking the wall. And the best part is that since she is on the top bunk, whatever she does is extremely loud for Todd who’s down below and he usually joins in on the aerobics. It drives me nuts because once she starts up, Todd starts up, which in turn I start up with the scolding and threats. I beg her to stop but she insists that she needs to exercise and to be healthy. I can’t argue with that, but I try to explain to her that there is a time and place for exercise. No use.

I’m sure I’m doing a whole bunch of things wrong while trying to get them to bed. I used to think I had the whole routine down when it was only Lucy. She was a piece of cake to get down compared to now trying to do all three. But that’s ok, I guess. I’m learning and I’m hoping that as the kids get older and a little more mature, the evenings won’t be such an ordeal. I’m trying to at least set in place the routine now so that things will go more smoothly down the road. Crossing fingers.