- Brushing teeth
- Putting on PJs
- Watching a TV show of her choosing (unless it's too late or we have had behavioral issues)
- Read a book
- Mama reads a book to her
- I sing Twinkle Twinkle
- I sing "La-la's" (Twinkle Twinkle with la-la-la replacing the last three syllables of each line... don't ask)
- She asks me to stay with her for two minutes
- We talk for two minutes
- Sleepy time
It works well and we almost never have bedtime problems. Routine. Routine. Routine.
The other night as I lay with her and talked for two minutes, she got quiet. And then, without looking at me or raising her voice above a hush, she asked me, "How did you know how many eggs there were?". I told her I wasn't sure what she was asking. She said, "You know, when the Easter Bunny came, how did you know how many eggs there were?"
This was months ago and I had to think... and then remembered that when she was searching for eggs I thought I'd be a great parent and make it a math project. I told her there were 25 eggs. "Okay," I said like dope, "you found 14, how many more are there?" She always knew the answer and I patted myself on the back... fast forward to the question... How long has she been working this out in her head?
I told her that the bunny left me a note designating the number of eggs to insure that she wouldn't miss any of them.
"Do you still have the note?"
Jesus... I was starting to sweat a little. I told her that I had recycled it.
"Why would you do that?
I rambled an answer about helping Mother Earth and quickly decided that her two minutes were up and kissed her goodnight.
I am going to have to be more careful...