He recently discovered stalling tactics that are driving Evan and I up the wall! Here's the way things have been going for the past several nights.
7:00 - Micah goes to bed. Easy peasy.
7:15 - Isaiah gets PJs on and brushes teeth. We go to hang out in the living room with Daddy.
7:30 - Bedtime! We diffuse the first round of tantrums and finally coax Isaiah to leave the living room. We go to the bathroom for potty time. We proceed to sit in the bathroom for a solid 15 minutes before I can finally convince him that he's finished. He has likely gone both pee and poop.
7:45 - Isaiah chooses two books to read. I start out reading one of them to him, but he snatches it away from me, insisting "I wanna read it myself." He stares at each individual page, analyzing every detail of each illustration and points out little tidbits he finds interesting. When I try to turn the page, he pushes my hand away and hollers "NOOOO!!!"
8:00 - We finish the second book, which I have to pry out of Isaiah's vice grip. He protests while I tuck him in and then insists on getting out of bed to go turn out the light himself. "I DO IT MYSELF MOMMY!!!"
8:05 - Now in the full height of his tantrum, Isaiah is screaming at the top of his lungs.
8:07 - Calmed a bit now, we say prayers and kiss goodnight. I go to sit in the chair next to his bed for a couple minutes.
8:10 - As I start to close the door and whisper, "Ni Night" I hear Isaiah say, "Mommy I gotta go potty!" Thankful that he can't see my exasperated eye roll in the darkness, we go back to the bathroom where he proceeds to go pee and poop.....again.
8:17 - Isaiah is tucked back into bed and I am about to leave the room yet again when I hear Isaiah say, "Mommy I sick. I need medicine." I tell him he's just fine, that I love him, and that it's time to go to sleep.
8:20 - I finally exit the room, trying to ignore him crying.
Whew. It's exhausting just re-living that mess! For a kid who used to go to bed with no muss, no fuss....this is getting infuriating. What can I do to stop all the stalling?
