The New Order of Things

Our day of behavioral reckoning has come for our children.  They've really been very good, see this post, but sleeping in the same room and getting along so well has blown bed time out of the water, and the less they sleep, the less well they behave during the day as well.  So we have to get them to sleep.

When we left the states they were really great sleepers (more often than not, anyway), but this past week not so much.  The first few nights, new place, and jet lag that was to be expected.  Slowly it was getting better, and Thursday night they went to bed and slept right on through the night.  Friday however, the kids decided to have a "fiesta" which was pretty adorable, until they were still up at 11:00 at night.  They did surprisingly well on Saturday, but Saturday night more fiesta shenanigans and they were still up at 9:00 so we laid down the law.  A short-lived fray erupted, but the kids were both asleep by 9:30.

Sunday was not a bright and cheery day.  It was a day for focus and thoughtfulness about our behavior, all of our behavior.  The kids are getting older and have more responsibility for their behavior and choices, but they are still pretty young, and ultimately, when they have a major breakdown, it is usually the result of our poor parenting.  And the new order, at least for now, Connor has decided he will be more successful at going to sleep at bedtime if he is in his own room.  So, he's now in the little room.

And Carolina Grace has a princess bed (the two twins pushed together) in the "big" room.

though she told me her bed was too big.

So, we'll see how things go, and continue to try to assess and improve our parenting skills so that we can enjoy the rest of our stay here in old London towne.  They are both going to sleep much better, but little jamama cakes hasn't quite figured out how to stay in her bed all night and put herself back to sleep when she wakes up at night.  She has a tendency to get out of bed, and doodle around the flat, which can wake up other people. She also tends to make her way into our bedroom to let us know she "needs a grown up cuddle."  I've spent a couple of nights, well from some wee hour of the morning on, on the other side of that big bed.

In fairness to the kids, this really is a huge upheaval to their little lives and they are handling it quite well.