We have been having some major drama at bedtime lately with miss Carmella Rose. As sweet as she is during the day, the opposite became true at night. Our little girl mysteriously turned into a little monster just when it was time to say "good night". It became such a heartache for us because we would have such a lovely evening, fun story time and sweet good night kisses. But just when you thought she was snuggled in bed, the nightmare began. It wasn't just her getting out of bed a million times. We could handle that if it wasn't accompanied with full on tantrum screaming. We finally figured out the root of the problem...she was too wound up and simply wanted more of us.
See, daddy gets home around 6:30, we have dinner right away, then it is basically time to get ready for bed. Daddy always puts Carmella to bed. They have a blast singing songs, and reading stories and saying prayers. Who wouldn't want that time to go on forever. So every night turned into major drama, making everyone miserable.
To remedy the situation we did our Bible story right after dinner, downstairs. We took away songs all together and simply got jammies on, brushed teeth and said prayers before kisses and hugs and lights out. We put into place a rewards system because we exhausted all other consequences and punishments. And frankly, we were sick and tired of fighting with her. So Mommy made some fun numbers and each night that she went to bed without fussing at all she earned a new number. We stuck each number she earned to her bathroom mirror so she could easily see her progress. When she reached the number 5 she was allowed to pick out a princess doll at Target.
It took her about 8 days to reach the number 5 and still had two more nights before we could get to the store to purchase her doll. She did awesome! We are so proud of our little princess. She decided that she wanted Belle from Beauty and the Beast and couldn't wait to get her.
On Friday we had a very busy day. First we stopped by Carmella's school to check out a consignment sale because Mr. Leo is growing so fast I needed to get some size 18 month clothes (even though he is only 8 months old!!). I know that he will be in that size very soon and most definitely for the cooler months of winter. At that sale I found a Belle princess dress complete with high heal shoes and a wand for $8. It was is great shape and looked really cute.
Carmella was beyond excited about the dress. She wanted to hold it in the car on the way to swimming class. After swim lessons we had lunch then went to Target to get her doll.
When we walked in the store she started dancing and skipping down the aisle. Then she stopped, looked up at me, pumped her hands in the air and squealed, "Mommy, this is so exciting!" Then we walked as fast as we could to the toy section to find Belle.
See, daddy gets home around 6:30, we have dinner right away, then it is basically time to get ready for bed. Daddy always puts Carmella to bed. They have a blast singing songs, and reading stories and saying prayers. Who wouldn't want that time to go on forever. So every night turned into major drama, making everyone miserable.
To remedy the situation we did our Bible story right after dinner, downstairs. We took away songs all together and simply got jammies on, brushed teeth and said prayers before kisses and hugs and lights out. We put into place a rewards system because we exhausted all other consequences and punishments. And frankly, we were sick and tired of fighting with her. So Mommy made some fun numbers and each night that she went to bed without fussing at all she earned a new number. We stuck each number she earned to her bathroom mirror so she could easily see her progress. When she reached the number 5 she was allowed to pick out a princess doll at Target.
It took her about 8 days to reach the number 5 and still had two more nights before we could get to the store to purchase her doll. She did awesome! We are so proud of our little princess. She decided that she wanted Belle from Beauty and the Beast and couldn't wait to get her.
On Friday we had a very busy day. First we stopped by Carmella's school to check out a consignment sale because Mr. Leo is growing so fast I needed to get some size 18 month clothes (even though he is only 8 months old!!). I know that he will be in that size very soon and most definitely for the cooler months of winter. At that sale I found a Belle princess dress complete with high heal shoes and a wand for $8. It was is great shape and looked really cute.
Carmella was beyond excited about the dress. She wanted to hold it in the car on the way to swimming class. After swim lessons we had lunch then went to Target to get her doll.
When we walked in the store she started dancing and skipping down the aisle. Then she stopped, looked up at me, pumped her hands in the air and squealed, "Mommy, this is so exciting!" Then we walked as fast as we could to the toy section to find Belle.
I asked her: "So do you know why you are getting Belle?"
She replied (very intuitively I might add), "Because I have been such a good girl and didn't cry or scream at bedtime. And I got to number 5, Mommy."
So here is the end result. A very happy princess. A very happy mommy and daddy. And a very quiet house at night. Thank you to those who have been praying for our little girl and this situation.
She replied (very intuitively I might add), "Because I have been such a good girl and didn't cry or scream at bedtime. And I got to number 5, Mommy."
So here is the end result. A very happy princess. A very happy mommy and daddy. And a very quiet house at night. Thank you to those who have been praying for our little girl and this situation.
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1 comment:
How perfectly precious! She is a little Belle...
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