Not da momma!

I dont remember the exact phrasing from the show "Dinosaurs", but the same idea rang through our house tonight, except in a more shrill and dire tone. For the past few nights, Amelia has been coming out of her room numerous times at bedtime. Amelia's reasoning - "but, I miss you Mama" - is very sweet, but spending an hour each night getting her to bed is not my idea of a good time. Everytime she comes out, I walk to her bed - like the books say - with no words, no special attention. I have tried taking things away, I have tried rewarding her with special treats - nothing has worked. Tonight, for the first time, I had Danny greet her at the door as she escaped. Whoa - if I had only known that throwing Danny into the picture would freak her out as much as it did, I would have done it last week. Major tears, major screams, major pleads to him for just one more kiss from Mommy. He put her back twice, but when the screaming from her bed sounded more like the beginning of a bad night of throw up and messy sheets, I went in there. Not a word came out of my mouth, I covered her and that was it. There is a fine line between giving in to your children's whining for the sake of shutting them up and being there for them, no matter what. I hope Amelia remembers that because the craziness of tonight will not be repeated. It's a good thing that Leo takes after his Daddy in the sleeping department, for now anyway. Maybe by 5th grade or so, we will all be sleeping through the night.