Sneaky Boys

When I first started my maternity leave and came home with Elinore, the boys schedules were way off, and we were okay with it for about a week.  They were staying up late, sleeping in late and they may have even taken a nap or two.  But we I could only handle a week before we had to get back to some kind of schedule/routine. 

I was tempted to move bedtime back for a later wake up time because what mom of a newborn wouldn't want a few more minutes of shut eye in the morning?  However, knowing school was coming up the next month and eventually I'll be heading back to work, I decided to get them back to their normal schedule to avoid transitioning them again later. 

There are days I wish they were getting up later, but I think the morning routine is going alright, and will hopefully make my transition back to work easier since I won't have to move my wake up time as much. 

Mostly though, there are days I wish the kids were staying awake later.  It's summer and there are so many things to do in the evenings, especially once it cools down a bit!  But more often than not, I'm exhausted by the time bedtime comes around and ready for some quiet time with my husband. 

I wish the boys had the opportunity to know the relaxed summers of my childhood of late nights and sleeping late on the floor of the living room every night, but it doesn't work for us.  I've tried a few times to let them experience some of those things, and they never seem to end well.  I let them stay up late one night and they're up even earlier the next morning and cranky! 

There are lots of tough choices we make as parents, but there are easier choices we have to make like bedtimes and routines that I struggle with.  I think fondly of my childhood and how different it is from my kids, and I wish it looked more like mine.  But at the same time, I look at their childhood and love some of the things that are different about it from my childhood. 

The most important thing; I know that no matter which decision I make, at least in terms of bedtimes is that everything will turn out just fine. 

So that is absolute not where I was headed with this; so back on track after that tangent.

Once they got back into their regular routine, I hear them stirring in the mornings at their regular time.  Sometimes they play quietly in their room, others they come ask if we can turn the TV on for them, which we agree to sometimes.  However, my favorite are the mornings I hear them trying to sneak into the toy room, which is outside our bedroom to get things.  Lately, that has expanded into trying to sneak into our room.  I'll be laying in bed still and hear them crawling on the floor out of sight trying to get into our room.  I have no idea what they're after.  Maybe they're trying to scare us.  I wait a few minutes and say "good morning."  Most of the time that immediately makes them turn around and scurry back to their room.  Nothing like raising suspicion about what they're up to!  Occasionally they'll pop up and ask for something, but either way, I'm entertained by it.  It is a nice way to wake up in the morning when your boys are coming to your bedroom for you!