For years and years and years we have had a bedtime problem at our house. Basically since the moment we put Miss 8 and Miss 6 into a shared bedroom for the first time. They have never, ever stayed put. Of course we have had small seasons of peace in the ongoing bedtime drama, but basically the whole experience thus far has been well, I am not allowed to say bad words on this blog, but it has been less than satisfactory.
So with school starting tomorrow, we have been trying to figure out how to get everyone to actually sleep at a decent hour. We always put them to bed at the same early, good for young children hour, but they always fool around, fight, and basically act like complete maniacs until a very undecent hour. We were toying around with the idea of changing who shares with who. I was thinking this could break up the bad habits they’ve got going. Miss 8 and Miss 2 share right now and since Miss 8 likes to read in bed, and actually act out the books she is reading, Miss 2 goes crazy sharing with her. Miss 6 and Miss 4 just fight and yell and hurt themselves and come out of the bedroom 500 times to tell me about it.
Luckily, I had a little chat with Maren about our rearranging plans. She helped me to realize that this would be futile. She is right. All that would happen is that I would get very tired from moving all their furniture around and then when they still came out I would get even more upset because I went to such great lengths to keep them there.
So new plan. The new plan is sticker chart. If they can get a sticker every school night- that makes Sunday through Thursday- then I will stop and get them some kind of fabulous afterschool treat/snack on Friday.
And look at the cute sticker chart I found! Very motivating to little girls to have this cute of a sticker chart waiting for them this morning. Or at least I hope it will be movating to them. 🙂
Last night, our first trial run, went very well. I did not see or hear a single girl after I put them into their beds and kissed their little cheeks. So cross fingers for me that this will be a very long season of peace, and of course, pay homage to Maren for another good round of what I like to call, “please tell me what to do before I go insane.”
And also, watch this hilarious video from dear Bill Cosby about his naughty naughty kids and their bedtime routine. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbaI-JK3WJA
Sorry to hear about the bed time troubles. We seem to have those over here too. I made a barrier between the two boys beds. It is just a pack n play mattress standing up on its side, but it makes it so that they can’t see each other when they are lying down. That way they can’t entertain each other once they are lying down. It mitigates the problem a little, although if I don’t monitor them periodically, it creates problems of its own. I also ride herd on them frequently to make them lie down and stay put. Once we get a good pattern established it works for a while. At least until some little thing (like moving into a toddler bed) comes and upsets our routine. A sheet tied on a string or something might help, although it might become a plaything. Good luck with the stickers.
So far I’ve got THREE good bedtimes in with those stickers. It is really working- now I just need to make sure they get a truly fabulous treat Friday, to reward their excellent behavior and hopefully cement good conduct.
I still have to admit that holding mine hostage for the first few nights with a squirt bottle worked very well… hee hee. I’m glad your positive reinforcement is working.