Sleeping Feels Good

Wow. Only 3 posts and I already have 3 followers. I feel loved.
But who are you 3 anonymous followers of mine, I wonder.

I've been debating about what I wanted to talk about when I wrote tonight.

• There was a fantastic article I read this morning that was sent by my friend Moses.
• It snowed today (which could prove to be interesting material... do you all know how I feel about snow?).
• I thought it might be interesting to write about my off-the-wall goal for the week: not to get any more bruises on my legs before the Army National Guard Dinner Party Saturday.
  

Instead, I'll talk about something I learned recently......it's easier to get a child to do what you want them to do when you explain to them why they need to do it.

Little Monster has fought sleeping since the day he was born. He just did not like to sleep. Until last week.

I wanted him to take a nap because he was obviously tired and most definitely cranky.
"Little Monster, we're going to take a nap after lunch."
"I don't want to take a nap."
"Well, I need you to take a nap because I can tell you're tired and you're very cranky."
He got a stubborn look on his face but before he could throw a fit I made a suggestion, "how about you nap with daddy & I on our bed? You can sleep in the middle and we can all hold hands. A nap will make you feel better."
I know he absolutely loves laying in our bed, and he had been wanting to cuddle with his dad a lot more since he started working graveyard.
"Ok," was all he said and then he ate his lunch.
After lunch was over he and I went in with his dad (Mr. B hadn't yet woken up for the day) and went down for a nap. When he woke up an hour later he climbed out of bed and left the bedroom to play in the living room. When I got up a little bit later I asked him if the nap had made him feel better. He said that it did make him feel better.

Now when I tell him it's time for bed he goes and puts his pajamas on, brushes his teeth and brings me a book. Then I tuck him in, and shut his door and I don't hear from him the rest of the night. All it took was for me to explain it to him the right way. It's funny because I've spent a long time telling him that his body has "fix-it" cells that help him heal and grow while he's sleeping, but it wasn't until he understood that it really made him feel better that it worked.

The only problem now is getting him up for school in the morning, "mom, do you have to wake me up now?"

Two questions:
1. What's something that you learned recently?
2. What is your goal for the week?