Don’t Get Mad, Get Naked

Note: I posted this yesterday, but blogger crashed and removed posts – so I lost any comments!  Sorry!

In the midst of our hour-long battle over bedtime with Charles last night, Tony mentioned to me that it will be pretty amazing to see what that kid can do when he puts his force of will to something positive.  In short, he is stubborn.  Which is why we try to exhaust him every day.  Unfortunately, just like conditioning for a race or playing on a basketball team for an entire season, Charles is in great shape and what wore him out a few months ago doesn’t seem to make a dent in his overall energy level now.

As you might recall from the first 21 months of Charles life, he has always been a horrible sleeper.  He wakes up in the middle of the night, lately with nightmares and a need to go potty.  And he fights going to bed, I think because he assumes we throw a party as soon as he dozes off.  He rarely naps on the weekends (he always naps at daycare, but so do the other kids, hence, no while-you-were-sleeping party).  He tries everything he can think of to keep from having the lights turned off: “Mommy story.  Potty, mommy!  Daddy’s turn stories.  Potty, daddy.”  Then, when we have each read two stories and told him in no uncertain terms that it is time for bed, he cries those pathetic, fake-cries of frustration and anger (as opposed to pain, hunger, or sadness) that allow me to easily slip out of the dark room and ignore him. 

Last night he was still going at 9:30.  Ugh.  We got him settled one more time (“nose wipe, mommy!”) and went downstairs to veg on the couch for 45 minutes before we turned in. 

Now, I always give Charles a kiss before I go to bed.  I love his sleep-sweet breath right after he drops off (before he develops morning breath – seriously, that kid could kill a small animal with his morning breath), I love his sweaty head, and I love the way he contorts his tiny body over his covers.  But last night was good, better than usual.  Last night, the goodnight kiss rewarded me with this sight:

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Oh, yes.  He was so angry with us at leaving him to sleep that he took off his pajamas and his night diaper.  Also, he was snoring.  We managed to get him re-diapered and re-clothed without even waking him up, laughing the whole time. 

Oh, kid.  I couldn’t possibly love you more.