As you may already know, one of my essays was published at Mamalode last week. It’s called “The Meaning Of No,” and it’s about the repetitive battles we have with our kids over the (four letter) word “no.”
It’s my first big effort to get my work seen by a larger and influential audience, and I’m super excited about the potential for future writing opportunities. You can read the essay and like it and share it and comment on it and do a happy dance about it –> HERE <–.
Coincidentally, the theme of bedtime in our house is “No.”
No, I will not sleep in your bed with you.
No, you cannot sleep in my bed.
No, you cannot fall asleep on the couch.
We have this one amazing, talented, expert sleeper of a kid. He goes to sleep when he’s tired. He uses technology in bed, but he shuts it off when he’s ready to close his eyes. He sleeps ALL night long IN his bed with the lights OFF, and when he wakes up in the morning, he brushes his teeth before coming into the kitchen to say cheerily, “Good morning!”
Then there’s the other kid. The one who makes us feel bat s—t crazy at the end of the night when we have nothing left to give and just want to watch “Modern Family” and eat Chinese food, for Pete’s sake! He’s the squishy little one who we transfer again and again night after night from the couch to his bed and from our bed to his bed only to have him return again. And again. And again.
We try. We really do. We’ve done charts and stickers and rewards and punishments, and we’ve had some successes along the way. But here’s the thing. This squishy kid – who’s becoming less and less squishy, by the way – has been sucking the oxygen out of the room at bedtime since the day he was born.
Speaking of getting all of the attention, this adorable bedtime menace of ours has written a book. Whereas I have ventured into the world of publishing cautiously and slowly with one essay, he has singlehandedly written, illustrated, and self-published a book. He did the whole thing in less than fifteen minutes and he even used the stapler by himself. (Show-off.)
The book is called “The Night Time: Riley Is Night Book,” and it explains a lot.
“The Night Time: Riley Is Night Book”
“Night was scary.”
“It was scary.”
“They sneaked out of there room.”
That’s the end of Riley’s book, but it’s definitely not the end of “The Night Time” in our house. Alas, that story is to be continued…
The Runaway Mama by Jen Gregory 