Thursday, July 02, 2009

Sleepy Stories

Now that Maxfield and Wyatt are in bunk beds I cannot read them bedtime stories anymore. They both want to look at the pictures and, quite frankly, I don't have the strength or stamina in my arms to hold the book out in their direction while reading, plus I can't read upside down (I always admired teachers who could). So now, I have to just tell them stories. Once they are settled into their beds I will lay on the bottom bunk with Wyatt to say prayers and tell stories for about 5 to 10 minutes.

I have run through all of the classics such as the Three Bears, Three Pigs and Jack and the Bean Stalk. I have told them every origin story of every super hero that I know. I was quickly running out of ideas. I started to make up stories each night but after a long day and finally getting a moment to relax, being creative was a struggle. I decided it would be best for me to tell the kids the stories from my youth. I would tell them quick stories about Johhny Socko and the Giant Robot. I told them about Sigmund and his friends Johnny and Scott. I dazzled them with Steve Austin fighting Bigfoot.

One week, each night, I told them (the best to my recollection) the cliff notes version of the first couple of episodes of Starblazers. After the telling the story of Derek Wildstar, Nova and the Gamilons for 15 minutes I would start to fall asleep. I have a bad habit of talking in my sleep and being somewhat delirious. I would continue babbling for a few minutes only to have the kids wake me up so I would continue the space opera. I would have no idea where I drifted off in the story and I would need Max to recap for me.

"I'm sorry. I drifted off. Where was I Max?"

"The Gamilons attacked after Gopher and Captain Stuben fired the wave motion gun at Pluto's moon." Max told me.

I was groggy and wasn't sure I heard him."Who fired the wave motion gun?"

"You said Gopher and Captain Stuben but I don't know who they are. And Dad who is Mr Rourke?"



******************



GoodNites is still running their Special Bedtime Moments contest. If you enter the contest you have a chance to win GoodNites Bedtime Kit which includes a $100 gift certificate to Pajamagram.com, a $50 gift certificate to Borders as well as a blanket, journal, and tote bag from GoodNites. See image of prize on this post.

Contest Rules: Go to SpecialBedtimeMoments.com and share a special bedtime moment shared by you and your family (can be a story, tip for getting kids to sleep or rundown of your nighttime routine). You can enter again if you would like. Make sure you leave a comment here that you have entered the contest for a chance to win the tote gift bag.
The winner from my last post in June is Charity.

Disclaimer: I have partnered with GoodNites for this series of posts; I am being compensated for writing about my family's bedtime routine and for promoting this contest, not for endorsing a product.

12 comments:

samantha said...

I always hum Theo "You Are My Sunshine" and now that he's older (15 months) he goes in his room when it's time to go to bed, grabs his blankie, sucks his thumb and starts humming the song. He knows that's our routine and I love it!

samanthajocampen at gmail dot com

Bogart said...

Does this partnership make you a professional writer? Cause clearly you are not a writer.

Anonymous said...

Objects at bedtime are closer than they appear

James (SeattleDad) said...

Stubing? Seriously. I would have figured Issac the Bartender as the gun man. He's way cool. (fingers pointed at you)

RzDrms said...

I probably won't qualify, just being a Godmother and all, so I'll make it brief: Once, at about four-years-old, I lifted the heavy knit blanket on my bed a few times while settling in...and then proceeded to loudly scream, "FIRE! *FIRE!!!*"

My parents bolted in my room, in a great panic, to see what was going on. So I showed them the "fire!" by demo'ing with the blanket.

It was static from the blanket and our house heater during the cold months....

(i saw fire, dangit!!!)

Unknown said...

William, I loved your first car story! You are a comic book dweeb deep down. I hope you will check out a video on my daughter's friend's comic book store web page. Search: Super-Fly Comics Yellow Springs Ohio. Scroll all the way to the bottom. I think you will get a kick out of it. Have a great 4th of July holiday with your family! E

sari said...

My husband tells our kids stories from when he was a kid.

One of their favorites is the story of how he liked a girl in junior high school, so to show her, he threw rocks at her.

Not the brightest, but a good one.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

I am terribly guilty of falling asleep while talking or reading stories... suddenly, my words make no sense whatsoever and I realize this in my semi-conscious state. Unfortunately, this is usually at 3pm!

Shannon said...

My kids have bunk beds, too, so when it's bedtime we cuddle up on my bed and read books together first, then we go to their room for prayers, sleepytime music and back rubs.
I don't know if that would work for your little guys, but it's a great routine for us!
Good night and sweet dreams!
Oh yeah- Happy 4th of July!!!

BKP said...

My husband does the same thing. He would lay in bed and tell our oldest made-up stories while I sat in the room and nursed our younger boy to sleep. I would sit and laugh as he mumbled himself to sleep and our oldest would scream "Dad Dad, what happened?!" My laughing would need to be silent, but my giggling would at times wake up the little one.

I love snuggling, saying God blesses with our kids, telling them how much I love them and then get my own butt in bed!

M said...

I love your blog and I entered the contest. Here is my entry:

Every night, as my four month old son eats his last meal before bedtime, I take a minute to tell him grateful I am that he has come into my life. I watch him methodically rub his hand up over the top of his head and down his eyes over and over again until the tiny hand pauses on his cheek. Then he will breathe a big sigh and drift off to a dreamland I can only imagine. Seeing him sleeping peacefully and knowing that he trusts me to make sure he is warm and comfy for the night ahead is a gift I will always cherish.

Unknown said...

I tried to enter the contest but ran into technical difficulties. I will try again when I am more motivated. We use Goodnights exclusively, every night. We are working on ditching them, but not ready yet.