We think Ellie has finally caught on to the idea that she can delay her bedtime. Over the past week, she has been asking us to sing more and more songs before we lay her in her bed. Of course, I think it is all Matt's fault. It used to be that we would sing one song - "I Love to See the Temple." That was it, and she was put into bed - no fuss.
But then Matt thought it would be fun to sing different songs. He started with what he called "the Monkey song" It's actually an old jazz standard entitled "Straighten up and fly right." Well, Ellie loved the monkey song and started requesting it. Then she started asking for "Jesus songs," so we began using a whole bunch of primary songs that mention Jesus. Just so you know, there are TONS! Finally, Matt got the great idea of introducing Ellie to the "Ellie song" which is just us singing the tune of Fur Elise.
Well with so many options out there to put her to sleep, we have found that Ellie requests as many as she can get away with. We are averaging 6 to 8 songs a night and our speedy bedtime routine that lasted under 2 minutes has turned into as long 30 minutes (this evening for instance).
I'm not sure how to combat it. I mean, how cruel do I feel when Ellie begs for "more Jesus song." How does one say no to that? And I forgot to mention that this week Matt also introduced a "jazz song," meaning that I've had to come up with jazz songs too. I mean honestly how many times can one sing "Blue Skies?" The man must be stopped! And so must Ellie!
To compound things, Ellie starts bawling when we put her into bed if she's asked for another song. Essentially, we have to just sing until we can lay her down and she says "goodbye Mama" Clearly, this is unacceptable behavior. She is not and should not be in control of when it is time to go to bed. Maybe we will try starting bedtime a little earlier, that way her bedtime stays the same. That might be the best remedy. Who knows. Still I got to hand it to her - finding a way to stay up a little later by using her Mom and Dad's main weakness - the love of music. She's a smartie.
1 comment:
Which is better - getting Ellie to bed a few minutes earlier, or exposing her to great art. I mean, how many other kids her age are familiar with the timeless line: "The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said, 'Your story is touching, but it sounds like a lie.'"?
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