The Death of a Bedtime Buddy

When you have kids you sort of expect you’ll have a few years of sleepless nights but after the infant stage the novelty of waking up at night (for me at least) starts to wear off, quickly. My 4-year old hasn’t slept through the night since, well, forever. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but the solid nights have been few and far between.

To try to appease my daughter I had given her a musical lamb that my mother-in-law had given my oldest daughter (she found it at some sale). My two older kids had no real interest in the lamb so it’s just sat on the shelf but my youngest daughter is more of a stereotypical child; she would play with toys they way manufacturers designed them to be played with (and a majority of other kids play with them). My older two were never like that as kids.

I gave the daughter the lamb, which she could wind herself, and she loved it. She would play it over and over until she fell asleep. The best part of course, no 1 a.m. wake-up call. I was feeling pretty good about this new routine so of course something had to go wrong.

Tonight as I’m getting my 4-year old into bed, I pulled out the lamb, ready for the start of an easy, solid night sleep. I tuck my daughter in, lamb resting in her arms. My daughter is in a defiant ‘I can do it’ stage so of course I didn’t even suggestion winding the lamb for her. I left to say goodnight to my son and check on my oldest daughter only to hear wailing down the hall. My 4-year old was upset that she couldn’t wind up her lamb. I tried and it wouldn’t wind either. And it wouldn’t play. I tried to find something else to entertain her but it didn’t matter, it wasn’t her lamb buddy. I sat with her as she tried to settle, sniffling and sighing between tears.

The lesson I should have walked away with: maybe teaching my daughter to rely on a toy to help her sleep isn’t the best option.

The lesson I ended up walking away with: I need to buy my daughter a new musical lamb.

Hey, if something works for you, why change it (if only the lamb still worked).

Write a Review Wednesday: Maybe I’ll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight

Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. Last week we reviewed Groundwood Books‘ Wolf Wanted. This week instead of a story we’re looking at poetry. We’ve been reading and enjoying Sterling Publishing‘s Maybe I’ll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems (age 6-9), written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Stephanie Buscema. I have to thank Derry and Wendy at Sterling Children’s Books for my review copy.

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From a girl who takes her mother’s bedtime wishes ‘sleep tight’ literally to a boy who wants to give you that first thing in the morning ‘kiss of death’, Maybe I’ll Seep in the Bathtub Tonight is full of fun poems all focusing on or around that lovely bedtime routine. There are poems on pajamas, dreams, brushing your teeth, things in the closet and more.

My kids loved these poems; they each had their favourite that they wanted read at night. My 3-year-old loved the poem about the spoiled princess and her pillows (Pillow Squawk), my 5-year-old liked the poem about morning breath (Pucker Up), and my 8-year-old loved the poem about the girl dreaming of sweets and candy (Sweet Dreams).

Most of the poems are written in standard rhymes and they quite funny in subject matter and how they are written.The illustrations are delightful too, filling the pages with colourful images, wrapping the text around.

It’s great to expose your kids to other forms of writing besides the traditional children’s stories you might be reading them at night. Maybe I’ll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems shows kids that poetry can be fun and entertaining without being too much like Mother Goose. The other great thing about poetry for kids? It’s much shorter than regular stories for nights when you want to read something that isn’t too long. I could read four or five poems which is usually faster than a standard story but my kids feel like they’re getting more.

You can add a copy of Maybe I’ll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems to your own library by visiting your local bookstore or other stores like Amazon.ca. If you’re looking for other great book ideas for kids, read through the past Write a Review Wednesday posts.