nighttime shenanigans

Here are few pictures to illustrate what I mean by nighttime "shenanigans". They are definitely not limited to any specific age, but definitely peak in severity and frequency from the moment my child leaves the crib (for me that is usually at 18 or 19 months because a new baby was always coming needing the crib accomodations) until at least 3 1/2. The shenanigans haven't skipped a single one of our children yet. . . . .Flint you are my last hope (no new baby on the way and he is keeping the crib as long as possible)! These pictures have all be taken this year. . . .thankfully not all on the same night. Although these pictures are of Savanna, they are only representative of how all of my children were at this age with their own set of idiosyncrasies.

This first picture is of Savanna on a night she decided she was sleeping in the garage. She dragged the beanbag out of her room, down the stairs and into the garage. I wasn't up for the battle that night and just watched her go thinking " She'll get scared and come back. She didn't. She actually slept out there. On any given night I can go into her room and find her in her closet or just in her room playing. A clean and tidy room can turn into a disaster in a matter of seconds with this child.

This is her bed. The toys change from day to day or week to week, but it is always full of toys. Even if I clear it out before tucking her in bed, this is how it looks when she comes and beggs me to "lay by me and scratch my back". (Really she wants her back tickled, but it doesn't matter how many times I explain the difference, she still says she wants her back "scratched".) I ask, "Where am I supposed to lie?" She so kindly moves one or two dolls and says, "Right here."

You might wonder why I care what she does in her room if she just stays and plays and leaves me alone. I agree. I wouldn't care if she didn't keep her sister awake, run in and out of her brothers' room, turn the water on in the bathroom after plugging the sink to cause a flood, and surprise me by standing at my bedside at 10:30 p.m. just as I doze off to sleep!

Here she is in all her fashion glory with her nighttime wardrobe changes. She never wakes up in the same clothes that I put her to bed in.

Let's just say nighttime in our home is not the model that other parents want to follow. Occasionally she and the other kids can be bribbed for good nighttime behavior, but it doesn't happen often enough.