Saturday, October 4, 2008

Bedtime!

The last couple of weeks Maddie and Jeni have decided to help get Nathan and Grace ready for bed at night. Jeni has decided that she is in charge of Grace and will take her and change her diaper and then put on her sleeper, singing made up songs to her the whole time. One of the songs that she made up for Grace goes to the tune “Hush Little Baby” and says

Hush little Gracie, don’t shed a tear.
Mommy’s going to hold you all night my dear.
We’ve been there and we’ve done that.
Hurry Mommy, hurry fast!

After Jeni gives me Grace and goes to get herself ready for bed I have to discreetly check and make sure that Grace’s diaper is on the right way. The other day I noticed that Grace’s onsie wouldn’t stay on the diaper, it kept slipping to one side. I finally opened it up and saw that Maddie had changed her without me knowing it and poor Grace had one whole cheek hanging out of her diaper! At least she hadn’t done anything yet…

Maddie helps Nathan get ready for bed and has come up with a really cute routine to distract him from the automatic “No” of a three year old. Nathan loves Thomas so she tells him, "Come on Nathan, we've got to hurry and go to all the stations so you can go drive Thomas. And if we aren't on time the train will leave without us." So first they head off to the "Flush and Swish Station" (he gets to go potty one last time – by the way, when he has to go he comes and tells me “Mom, I’ve got pee in me”, then I know we’ve got to hurry before he “makes an accident”). Next comes the "Soapy-soap station" (he washes his hands) then the "Wipey-wipe station" (he dries his hands). Then comes the "Warm and cozy station" (pajama time), the "Scrubby-brush station" (tooth brushing time) and last but not least, the "Head-bow station" which is prayers. Every once in a while she throws in "Well done, Nathan" and when they are finished she says "Wow Nathan, you are a very useful engine" in her best Sir Topham Hatt voice. Then it's time to go drive Thomas which is his bed. They have a good time with this game and it gets Nathan in to bed!

I am so lucky to have such great helpers!

3 comments:

West Family said...

I love to see what goes on in your family. We feel so far away sometimes and I love the day to day action of blogging. I did Joy School with some friends for Samantha. It was such good experience. Of course we had to stop a lot since Joshua was a newborn and often had to eat in the middle of a lesson, but I loved the flexibility of it. If you thougth Nathan liked the body unit wait until you get to the "Spontaneous Delight" unit. Can you believe that is one of the units, it is awesome! Can't wait to keep up with your family. BTW, what does Bob's new toy do?

Carolyn said...

Hey Jamie, It's really good to hear from you! I didn't know you did Joy School too, the more I do it the more I love it and so do the kids.

As far as Bob's toy (lathe/mill/drill press) goes, I can give you the overly detailed Bob answer :) or I can just say that he can shape metal or wood all sorts of different ways with it. He wants to start out making some simple tools and things but eventually he and Dave want to get into gunsmithing with it. Needless to say, he has many plans!

Maegan said...

I can't believe how cute your girls are in getting the other two kids ready for bed. That is a seriously genius plan from Maddie. She could give a parenting class!