A Glimpse Of My Evenings Alone

Sorry I just wanted to make you all work for it. I mean, afterall... I'm writing this huge, lengthy, rambling post in hopes that you'll all share you bedtime routines with me...it only seems fair.

A glimpse into my evenings alone with the kids:

6:30ish-- Dinner. This is where Ryan promptly takes his food off his plate and throws the plate on the ground. Tristan stares at his food and protests and yells, "NEVER!" until I get ketchup, ranch, or Johnny's and then in wonder he says, "OHH WOW".

7:00ish-- Kids play while I pick plates up off the floor and attempt to pick up toys and straighten up, and get pj's ready and give them their milk cups. 

7:30ish-- Bathtime. This is where my life gets kinda crazy. When Ryan was a baby, I would give them separate baths because it freaked me out so much to even be out of arms reach of Tristan while he was in the bath. These days, it would be impossible to give separate baths, not to mention extremely time consuming. One would be standing outside the bath attempting to strip down, cheeks stained with fat baby tears. So as crazy as it is, we just do it all together. I change whatever pants I have on to something I can roll up, and we all jump in. 

Scrubbing these kids down is like... I don't know, herding cattle or something. They're all wiggly and whiney and annoyed, like I'm bothering them. I wash Tristan first and then let him play and start draining the water. I have to rush through washing Ryan because he is such a wimp about it, and immediately wants to get out after the water goes over his head. 

This is where the timing comes in. Sometimes I wrap Ryan up into a towel and we sit on the toilet and wait for the water to drain a bit more until I feel safe enough to leave the room. Yep. I leave the room entirely. I used to put Ryan's diaper on in the hallway lightning fast and yank Tristan outta the tub, but I've learned to relax a bit. Now, me and Ryan have a little 5-10 minute alone time, and I get to lather his special eczema lotion all over him and he loooves it and then we get pj's on and by the time, Tristan is like a beached whale...playing in an empty bath. He doesn't seem to mind.

8:00ish-- Show time. Usually Doc McStuffins or Gaspar & Lisa-- these shows are so cute. This is where I finish picking up toys and start turning off lights and music or whatever else is on. I try to put all the toys away so they are left to zone out to the TV. Once milk is finished, it's toothbrushing time and potty time for Tristan. Now that he's sitting on the potty, I kill two birds with one stone and brush his teeth while he's on the pot. Ryan always fights me on it and is much better with Eric about teeth brushing, so I always start to feel a little bit of that "If only..." bug pop up right about now.

By this time, I'm straight up exhausted. It all sounds very basic what I need to accomplish- dinner, bath, pajamas, brush teeth, story time, asleep. But in reality, its all in the details. There's so many little things to remember to get it all running smoothly. One little thing can disrupt the order or make for a stressful night instead of a smooth one. If one child is being needy, it's up to me to balance it out. I don't have anyone to help run Tristan to the potty when he says he has to pee right as I open Ryan's poopy diaper to change it or to calm shrieking Tristan because Ryan broke his train tracks that he just put together. I have one set of arms, so I choose my battles. Tristan can deal as long as I take Ryan and get him interested elsewhere. These kinds of things you don't think about until you have two toddlers and only one body.

All of this is just a general idea. Of course it never happens this way. Dinner time produces tears; tearing them away from their toys to get in the bath produces tears. Then they start to play and you pour water on their head or get them out too early and that produces tears too. Putting the trains away too early produces tears, teething, diaper changes, etc. You think you know yourself until you have kids , and then you know them. Their likes, their dislikes, what's going to set them off, how to distract them, how to make them laugh, etc.

 

8:20-- I steal Ryan away quietly and tuck him in. He's simple. Binky + Blankie + lights out... Zzzzz...

8:30-- Now, I get to deal with Storytime Police. If I'm lucky and I time it just right to where the 8 o clock show is ending, and that guy that tells a Winnie the Pooh story comes on...but before Little Einstein's come on...I'll get a willing little boy. He'll collect his puppy, his cup and his lovie and he'll climb in bed. Sometimes, I try to scurry out of the room without having to read him a story...but it never works. If I want him to go to sleep willingly without having to hear him from down the hall saying "OH DEAR, a story...oh dear, oh dear" while standing in the middle of the room in the dark... I read him a story. He used to be able to get 4 out of me, but I've managed to whindle it down to two.

Finally, I get to sit. 

HAHA. Just kidding. Now I get to do laundry and dishes and feed the dogs and then I crawl into bed and play on my phone for hours and hate myself in the morning. 

The end! 

What do YOUR nights look like?