I could have opted for the "so busy the kids are beyond cranky but quickly out cold" technique. But since the kids were up till after 9:30 last night, I didn't think that B11 would survive Ash Wednesday mass tonight. between that, hubby gone, and the storm warnings we ended up forgoing the 30+ min drive each way to the hour + mass with 6 kids.
Instead we've apparently opted for the "chaos" way. That's what happens, even if you let them sleep in, when you stay out 90+ minutes past small or Autistic children's bedtimes. Everyone is beyond tired but no one wants to or will fall asleep. You get to play the "mean mommy" then, when you can't possibly waste away 30 mins per kid and still get them all in bed between 7 and 8 pm.
You have all the best intentions, get the crankiest toddler and infant to bed first. The infant that is so tired she could probably fall asleep sitting up, has other plans. The toddler ends up being bribed by a binky and Dora. You take the infant with you to lay with S6, who still won't go to sleep alone. She certainly won't go to sleep with baby L sloppily slurping on her toes though.
After a while you move onto J4, who will go to bed on his own if you get him started. This gives baby L the chance to play on the floor. Oddly enough she wanted nothing to do with playing, until it was bedtime. This would work so much better if your teen doesn't come to tell you that the toddler has decided to have another bath.
I'd go back to J4 or S6 except it's 8 pm. B11 must go to bed at 8 pm EXACTLY. 7:58 pm and the TV show she was watching so she'd leave you alone to do the others, would still be on and you'd spend that 2 minutes arguing that her bedtime isn't until 8 pm. 8 pm starts the time bomb, every time it ticks another second it could go off. Besides, by 8:02 pm she'd be engrossed in another show.
This would be a quick task, right? Go tell the tween to hop in bed, make sure she starts up, and you're home free to go back to the others. You can go tuck her in later. Maybe this works for a normal tween but not B11. Maybe 25% of the time she will actually make it into her bed if you make sure she's at the stairs. She most certainly would not turn off her light and she'd yell for you to tuck her in, every 30 seconds.
Instead you find that, even though she wasn't hungry 2 hrs ago when you made the fish dinner she requested, she is now hungry and eating a potato instead. Once you drag her away from that and get her bedtime meds she makes you wait while she gets her bed wrinkle free and her pillows, stuffed animals, etc just so. Then you may, in the right order or you'll have to repeat, kiss her and tell her goodnight. Just be sure not to touch her pillows, blankets, or bed while doing so.
You see that J4 has taken to hiding under the covers so he's probably OK so you go back to S6. Baby L has other plans though, she's started crying. S6 can't go to sleep next to that so it's decided it's worth the 5 minutes to go put her to bed first. If she would go to bed that is.
What's the chance that all the screaming lulled J4 and S6 to sleep? I probably have a better chance of A2 stomping up the stairs and jumping into the bed that baby L finally settled down in. I wonder if the binky she found and Blue's Clue's will lull her to sleep. I can at least hope she won't wake up baby L, right?
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