Happy Henry Eve

The nap lengthener does NOT guarantee that upon converting a crib into a toddler bed that your child will stay in his or her crib.

I just spent the past hour and a half getting Henry to stay put in his bed for naptime. He loves that he can get into it and out of it at will. First we just tried telling him to stay put and then leaving. Within thirty seconds, I would hear the pitter-patter of feet and the pulling out of toys. Specifically a giant tractor. So I'd go in and tell him to get back into bed. The tractor came with him.

Then I would hear the tractor against his bedroom door. So back into the Pickle's room. I then removed the offending tractor from his room and once again explained that it was nap time and he was to stay in his bed.

Failure.

So then I got my book and hunkered down in his rocker. He stayed put in his bed while I was in the room. But would talk to me and point out all the balls in his room. Then he threw Dog and Dog-Dog on the floor. Then looked at me. I said, "You need to stay in your bed. You're a big boy now. You'll be 2 tomorrow." So he'd lay down, cantilevering over the edge of the bed, and yank Dog and Dog-Dog back onto the bed with him after it was obvious I was going to be no help. After an hour of this, I thought, "Well, he knows the deal. I can get up and clean the house before both sets of grandparents arrive."

Nope. He just waited until he heard the click of his door and Mommy was out of the room to get up. So I went back in and began again. Telling him that he needed to stay in bed. I even laid down next to him in the crib and rubbed his head for awhile. I was confident that this time was going to stick so I waited outside his shut door to listen.

Within 10 seconds, I heard him playing in his drapes. I opened the door and he went "Uh-oh" and immediately ran back to his bed before I could even admonish him.

Which told me that it wasn't a matter of understanding what he was supposed to be doing, just down right rebellion. So I informed him that if he got up from the bed again, I was going to spank him.

He waited a full minute to get out of the bed this time. So, being a Mommy of my word, I went back into his room, armed with my spatula. "Henry, you need to stay in bed. You did not. You disobeyed Mommy. You are going to get a spanking."

"No no no no no."

"Yes, sweet boy. Mommy loves you too much to ignore when you disobey." And so I spanked him. Then held him and told him I loved him and forgave him. We prayed for Jesus to forgive him and to help him stay on the bed and to fall asleep quickly. All the while, Henry is crying and rubbing his eyes. So I decided to do something I haven't gotten to do in awhile. Rock my dear boy to sleep. By the end of the second verse of Amazing Grace, the Pickle was out. And successfully made the transition to the bed without waking up.

I'm thinking that Henry Eve is going to be a long night.