Big Beds & Threats

Everything seems to be happening at once. Potty training is going well, and now, we are moving into big beds. What happened to my babies? This is so crazy.

We bought 3 of these Ikea reversible beds that can be a regular bed and then, transformed into a bunk. Perfect for us. If you know Ikea, though, their crap comes in about 2 million pieces and takes FOREVER to assemble. Billy worked on one last week and another one this weekend. We don't have the third put together yet.

Abby got the first one because we were willing to try anything to get that child to sleep. We thought maybe the change of bedtime scenery would do the trick. No such luck.

The first night, she screamed bloody murder as usual for close to an hour. She fell out of the bed around 2 a.m., and I had to go in and put her back in. Then, she slept okay after that. The next night, she screamed bloody murder again, and woke up around 1 a.m. and cried for me until I came. The only good part was that I could sleep next to her, and I didn't have to bring her to my room and have Billy bitch at me because she was in there again, and she's the whole reason he stays in bed until late. Whatever. She's an excuse...not the reason. The third night, she kept getting out of bed. I left the room and shut the door, and she almost kicked it down. Pleasant. You get the picture...not going well.

Billy built the 2nd bed in that room yesterday, and we thought Will would want to sleep in it, but he opted out. Marie was going to take the spot, but after hearing Abby cry for a while, she decided she would rather go back to her queen bed in the guest room. Good choice. That child is a genius.

So, Abby slept in the new bed last night, but fell out in the middle of the night. She was so disoriented at that point that she climbed back into the other bed. Again, she was up around 4 a.m. crying for me, and I joined her in bed. It's pretty comfy.

Today at nap time, Marie took her chances in the room with Abby. We shut the door, and Abby started screaming. We could hear Marie saying, "Abby, please. No cry." Poor little girl just wanted to sleep. When the screaming ended nearly an hour later, I went in the room to find them both in the same bed. Marie woke up a little later, and was not thrilled with where she was, especially since Abby's feet were in her face, and I had to move her back to the guest room.

Tonight, Marie went back in to that room to bunk up with Abby. Abby started her crying, but I decided to try a new technique: threats. I pretended like I was calling her teacher, Ms. Donna, and I said that if she didn't get in bed and go to sleep, she couldn't go to school tomorrow. At the mention of that, Marie shoved her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes tight. Abby's head hit the pillow hard, and she nodded her head at me. That was it. She's been silent every since. Did that really work? Holy shit. I'm "calling" Ms. Donna whenever I need anything.

Are my children the only weirdos who can't stand the thought of not going to school? This won't work forever. I'm sure.