Mommy's Moment: Operation Bedtime Star

Imagine this:

It's 11:00 pm. You've just feed your baby. Now, time to slip into peaceful, restful sleep yourself. You climb into bed. You doze off. Your eyes open. Maybe an hour has passed. You see two little eyes staring at your's. It's not a dream. It's your 4 year old. Staring. Sucking her thumb. You crawl out of bed. Together, you walk, without saying a word, back to her room. She climbs into bed. Your turn the music back on. You walk back to your room and back into your bed. You sleep. You awaken. Perhaps one to two hours has passed. This time standing before you is your 2 year old. He says, "I just want to hug you." You say nothing. Scoop him up. Lay him back in his bed. Restart the music. Back to your room. You lay back down. You awaken. This time, no eyes, just crying. It's your baby. You're teaching her to sleep through the night so you give her a bit to fall back to sleep. You wait. You watch the clock. She finally returns back to sleep. Then, you do as well. Now, it's not unusual to repeat this pattern. Hannah or Grant, or heck, maybe both one night will reenter at a surprise time. The only difference is when the next time Kate cries, you feed her. You return to your bed 15 minutes later. It's almost 5 o'clock, the time your husband wakes up. Then, wait an hour and voila, your own alarm rings and look, it's time to start the day again.

So, tedious to read right? Try living it. Yes, that is how my nights go. Somehow, somewhere along the way, Hannah started waking up and walking to our room. Now, funny how her little brother has followed in her footsteps. I'm tired. So. Very. Tired. So, it's time for...

OPERATION BEDTIME STAR

If they don't get out of their beds at night, they get a star. When they have acquired 4 stars, they get to watch a movie and eat popcorn during their naptime. Will it work? We shall see. I am desperate. I am tired. I am ready for them to kick this habit. I want my UNINTERRUPTED sleep back. Game on.