Friday Fun in Photos

Happy Friday!  Today I want to share some photos I've come across recently in the hopes that they'll make you smile too. :)

First of all:

Bedtime Blues?

I know we're not the only ones who find bedtime to be well, a bit of a struggle sometimes. Or most of the time.

Aside from the fact that Anna has difficulty falling asleep without me, our biggest issue is that it takes her a long time to wind down at the end of the night.  Recently, we've tried to implement some changes that will provide more structure, get Anna in her own bed again, and give us some grown-up time to relax and maybe watch non-cartoon TV.... with mixed results.

I just came across this article on tackling bedtime issues, which I think contains some good ideas. Some of it is new and some isn't....but the more I come across ideas I've already read about before, the more it helps reinforce for me that these are methods that do work.

Please let us know what you think and what works or doesn't work for you. And sleep well tonight!

Spoiled Rotten?

We’ve all heard this expression.  I know those adjectives were used to describe me – accurately, I suppose – on more than one occasion when I was a child.

Mini-me, circa 1980.

I recently read an article about so-called “spoiled” children.  It really got under my skin because it wasn’t about kids who have fifteen different Barbie dolls or mountains of toys. It was about kids…. whose parents console them when they cry and pay attention to them when they seek it.

That’s what it means to be spoiled?  I think not.

Kids & Bedtime

I receive regular parenting tips and other information via email.  Today's message included a link to an article about bedtimes written by someone who lets her kids stay up later than many kids their age.  I always start Anna's bedtime ritual early (like around 7:30) but it's a good hour or two before she's actually asleep.  Sometimes it's tempting to let her just stay up until she crashes instead of enduring bedtime struggles, but of course, I don't want her to be too tired the next day, so I usually try very hard to get her to sleep.

Please check out the article and share your thoughts about early vs. late bedtimes!

"Where Children Sleep"

Today I came across an article by Kerri MacDonald, entitled, "Where Children Sleep," which discusses a new book of the same title by James Mollison. According to the article, the book is essentially a photo essay, the premise of which is that children's bedrooms can reveal a lot about their lives. 

Go The F*** To Sleep: Harmless Fun for Parents, or Harmful Reflection of Reality? Discuss.

I’m sure most, if not all of you, have heard about Adam Mansbach’s new book, Go The F*** To Sleep, which was recently read by Samuel L. Jackson on CollegeHumor.com.  Mansbach wrote the book to parody children’s books, and to humorously describe the internal frustration that parents face when their child resists sleep.  I know we’ve all been there.

However, as a book with this title naturally would, it has stirred up controversy. There is widespread support for the book as a way for parents to blow off steam by laughing at something that can be really frustrating.  Supporters say that most of us think the things that the book narrates when our kids employ sleep-delaying tactics, even though we certainly would never say them aloud. Clearly, while it is illustrated like a children’s book, the book is not meant to be read to children.