The bedtime dodge

I didn't realize it could start so young. Baby boy has started testing out various ways to do the bedtime dodge. Here are a few of my favourites:

- "I'm so hungry. I need to eat my dinner." He tried this line on me tonight after eating several snacks plus a big dinner.

- "I need to go pee pee on the toilet." This is a good stalling ploy and it works every time. He knows that we'll be beside ourselves with excitement if he shows any interest in the toilet at all. The problem is that once he's seated he actually has no intention of peeing. Rather, he sits for long periods of time, making us read him books.

- "You read this to me?" he'll ask as he hands us the longest, most repetitive and most annoying book in his collection.

- "I want daddy to come upstairs." or "I want mommy to come upstairs" depending on who is on bedtime duty. Often, his need to see one of us leads to quick escapes from the bedroom, and naked streaking down the stairs.

- "I'm going to sleep in the bath." This is among his favourite stalling tactics. Virtually every night we have to peel him off the bottom of the bathtub, where he lies pretending to be asleep.

- "Heeeheeheeehhheeeee." Who needs to go to the gym when you have to chase and wrestle down a squealing, laughing toddler to put him in his pajamas? It's like trying to put pajamas on a cat! No joke.

- "I want another song." Our brushing teeth routine involves singing a selection of children's song. Sometimes baby boy won't open his mouth until the right song is sung. Or, he'll insist that the song be repeated again and again (although that doesn't usually work!).

- "I want socks!" or "I want my other yellow teetee." or "I want water." This is what we hear mosts nights after we've finally sat down on the couch after an exhausting bedtime routine. And he's persistent. He'll repeat his demands loudly and repeatedly until someone comes back upstairs.

It's amazing that most nights we are able to get him into bed by 7:30!