Bedtime Routine

I hate it. What should really take a half hour or so seems to take hours (just a slight exaggeration), and there is always so much complaining and crying. By the time the kids actually are in bed, I am so frustrated that all of the things I was going to do get pushed off for yet another night.

A couple nights ago I was home alone with the kids and I decided that Nels and I would make a picture chart of all of the things we usually do before bed. PJ's, Teeth, Potty, Scriptures, Prayer, Stories, Kisses, Snuggle. Nels and I went through the list pretty smoothly and he was in bed in almost record time.

The last couple of nights haven't gone so smoothly. Things should, since we have four adults in the house, all of them willing to help out. I have expectations (herein lies the problem) that everyone should drop whatever they are doing and focus on the 'chart'. The chart that basically I made. (Maybe no one is really on board with me and my stupid chart.) Now, even if I work extra hard, I still can't get Nels to bed in a acceptable amount of time without screaming and crying when everyone is home. Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa are very distracting and seem to hand out candy by the bunches at bed time. I only say this because Nels seems so much more interested in what they are doing then what I am trying to do.

Well, I am off to do my bedtime routine. Maybe Nels gets it from me. What should take a couple minutes always seems to take so long, especially if I get on the computer!