Bedtime "Routine"

The bedtime routine for Cohen needs to be pretty strict, or he demands things for hours.  And since he and Elliot share a room, she demands these things, too. We get done with our nightly rituals of teeth-brushing, prayers, etc... and as we close the door and say goodnight - there's a storm a-brewin'. JUST as we shut the door, he yells "MOOOOM! I need another pillow!" (with Elle in the background yelling pillow!? pillow!?). Then he asks for a different blanket - one that's either smaller or bigger than the one he has, depending on the night (Elliot yelling 'bang-kit!?' is probably my favorite thing right now).  Then sometimes he'll tell me he NEEDS to sleep on the floor with his blankets as he throws everything from his bed to the floor. When I tell him no, he proceeds to cry because his bed is now on the floor and he needs help getting tucked in. Again. Theeeen he asks for water in a sippy cup, then two, then three.  Why does someone need THREE waters on the windowsill by their bed at night? You got me.  But Cohen has been asking for it every night for over a year. But never gets all three.  Sometimes two, but never three. Persistent little bugger.

So with all these demands bedtime gets a little hectic.  I tell him his blanket is fine, tell him he has a pillow that's cozy enough, tell him one water is plenty, tell him 'no, just go to bed' about ten times before I actually say goodnight and shut the door and there's silence.

On Sunday night I wasn't home for bedtime, and Monday morning this is what I found on Cohen's windowsill.

He finally got what he wanted.  You can tell bedtime wasn't pretty if there are three waters on that windowsill.  For the next couple years bedtime will include me saying, "I know dad gave you three waters that ONE TIME, but..."