Tonight I had to watch the kids during that dreadful hour between dinner and bedtime. It actually wasn’t too bad: minimal crying, very little fighting, and no big messes to clean up. How did I manage that?
I was focused on 8 pm…that’s the magical bedtime. I had to pick up the toys, give the boys a bath, put their pajamas on, and get them to bed in one hour. Here’s how it went:
7:00 pm – put on a Phineas and Ferb episode while I clean up the toys and start the bath.
7:15 pm – put on a Max and Ruby episode for the older boy (it calms him down) and put the younger boy in the bath.
7:25 pm – put the older boy in the bath. Wash both boys’ hair.
7:35 pm – get the youngster out of the bath and dress him.
7:45 pm – get the big boy out of the bath and dress him.
7:50 pm – put the big boy to bed with his toy robots and threaten to take them away if he opens the door or leaves the room (this trick works 95% of th time).
7:55 pm – read a few stories the little guy and put him in the crib.
Made it by 8 pm! Great night. When the wife gets home we can finally catch up on the backlog of shows on our DVR.
