The Witching Hour

I've written about bedtime before.

It can be a bit of a circus at my house. Three little boys -- best buddies -- sharing a bedroom. It seems like one minute before bedtime, they are writhing around on the floor groaning about how tired they are, how they couldn't possibly eat their broccoli because they are just. so. tired. Suddenly, when it comes time to put on pajamas, they are running around like their hineys are on fire. The next hour is spent just trying to wind back down again.

This evening, after being sent to their room to get changed, I decided to set the timer. They had 15 minutes to change, tidy up, brush teeth, and get heads on pillows before lights out.

I'll give you 2 guesses how well that worked.

Go ahead, guess.

Boy #1 was busy reading a book on his bed, seemingly oblivious to the whole situation.

Boy #2 began running in circles screaming, "Fifteen minutes, oh no! Fifteen minutes!"

Boy #3 was screaming at boy #2, "that's not helping! That's not helping us get it done!" All the while not actually getting anything done himself.

Clearly they are making great progress in this area.

***I do need to point out that, when the timer dinged, all 3 were in pajamas, teeth were brushed, and the room was clean...except for one forgotten pair of dirty underpants in the middle of the floor.

Success? We will see how long the chit chat lasts before we use that word...