Mattress Mayhem and the BIG BAD WOLF

My two beautiful angels used to be the best sleepers a mother could ever hope for. They would go to bed at 7:45, walk right to their beds, give you a big hug, lay down close their eyes and go to sleep. Yes, it was that simple. They would sleep until about 8:00 in the morning. Right after lunch they would again walk right to their beds, lay down and nap for anywhere from 2 1/2 -4 (YES 4!!!!) hours. It was amazing, it was wonderful...and I bragged one to many times.

Starting about the time the princess was born things headed down hill. And in the last 2 months getting them to sleep at all is a pipe dream. They rarely nap, they fall asleep late and they wake up early. See what you get for patting your self on the back over what an amazing job you are doing....You have all been warned, Pride goeth before the fall.

Let me give you a few examples of the creative ways that Caleb has been trying to negotiate his way out of nap time. Before I begun I need to explain that Caleb loves the Big Bad Wolf....yes, the huffin' puffin' , house blowing, piggy eating, Big Bad Wolf. I don't know where the infatuation started, but he spends a significant portion of his day talking about, or pretending to be, the Big Bad Wolf. He will walk up to kids at the park with his hands held up like "scary claws" in front of his face at yell (yes YELL) "ERRRRRRR...I the WOLFFFF...I blow your house down" followed by blowing at the child. Needless to say that kid hightails it out of there and Caleb has no idea why (we have been working on this and he is getting better about asking them to play wolf first).

So that explained...on to his nap time antics. At nap time I will hear him leave the room and close the door behind him and the start to tiptoe (because tiptoeing makes you invisible of course) out to the living room. When I catch him with my amazing invisible kid sensing eyes. I ask him what he is doing....his answer...get ready for it...

"Shhhhhh Momma, the big bad wolf is sleeping"
"The big bad wolf is sleeping?"I ask. He nods. "Where is the big bad wolf sleeping?"
"In my bed." he responds matter of factly. "Shhh momma, can't go in there, have to play, big bad wolf in my bed."

Hmmmm...excellent try my son, but not going to work on this momma. So I have to head into his room and in no uncertain terms tell that big bad wolf to get out of his bed and let Caleb nap. I tell that wolf if he comes back he is going to be in trouble. We turn and watch that wolf walk out of the room and I put Caleb back in his bed and he lays down. Score one for Mom. I am feeling oh so clever. That works for a few days and when he realizing the old wolfy isn't getting him out of nap he decides that it is time for more drastic measures...and it' time to call on the bubba's help.

So for the last, oh I don't know, four or five days he has decided to wage nap time war on the mattresses in the room. My mistake here is that Joseph an I still have them sleeping in their cribs that are converted into toddler beds. Those mattresses weigh almost nothing, which makes them fair play for mischief making. It all started with Caleb pulling Clay's mattress off Clay's bed in order to cage him under his bed. No, Caleb didn't force Clay under the bed, Clay often prefers to sleep under the bed rather than on it (one of the many things I have stopped asking why about). This of course pisses Clay off and he starts screaming and Momma comes in and breaks it all up, sending everyone back to their own beds. At some point Clay realized if he helped Caleb he wouldn't get trapped. So now they work together (a phenomenon that is the bane of all twins momma's existence...two minds can do infinite more mischief than one) to get both mattresses, all the sheets, and all the bedding into a big "we're not napping" pile in the middle of the room that they then climb and jump all over. This is often done so quietly that I foolishly think they have fallen asleep until the crash that comes from the inevitable fall off the pile. They even once turned a mattress on it's side and pushed against the door in an attempt to keep momma out.

(Eye beginning to twitch) So as you can see. I have learned my lesson about tempting the fates with bragging. (Hands folded together) So...please please please let my kids sleep again.

Oh and by the way..Happy 5 Month Birthday Addie. Please always stay such a perfect angel (knock knock knock on wood)