Hey, and yay you for new job, and enthusiastic new coworkers, no more awful boss!

Oh, sara, that's awful.

And the article was all "It's so important for kids to have freedom!" and made it sound like GAWD, why doesn't everyone just do what the NOMADS do and let the KIDS BE KIDS. And I"m like "yeah, that's great until the kid has to make it to daycare and mom's going to be late for work..."

HA! a coworker has a 3 year old who won't get into bed until after 9 and won't sleep until 11 and then gets out of bed and goes into their room. And he feels like he needs to put a lock on the door to set boundaries. But they have never left this kid with other people, not even family. They gave up a Y membership because the kid wouldn't tolerate the gym kid watch.

I explained my kids were sleep trained by really expensive nurses who had Noah on a 3 hour schedule when he came home. They still sleep for 11 hours a night and are in bed by 7:00 on most every night (except tonight because Noah went to watch hockey). My kids have tons of issues but sleeping isn't yet one of them.

YAY for Amy's good news!

Yay for Amy's DH!

I was talking to a friend yesterday, who related the bedtime routine of other friends she visited recently.

Mom: It's time for bed. (7:30)

The two kids: (5 & 7 years old) Walk up stairs, brush their teeth, get into bed. Sleep.

Guests & parents: never moved from the table.

How is that even possible?

No books, no songs, no playtime, no conversation, no requests for water, no struggle. Just sleep.

I've worked with a lot of families and I can honestly say, I have never, ever heard this working before.

How is that even possible?

Depends on the kids, honestly. Just like some adults sleep more easily than others.

JZ used to babysit a kid (2 y.o.) who would just announce he was tired, take his blanket and go take a nap.

Yeah. I once babysat a nightmare toddler who punched me, said "Bed now" and immediately passed out. BUT, that was after, like 15 books and a monumental struggle over exactly where he'd go to sleep.

In the related scenario, I'm amazed that the parents don't indulge any routine and that they trust the kids so much as to not even move from their seats at bed time.

I think I might have control issues.

One of my nephews almost always puts himself to bed. He knows when he's done, he takes himself. The other can fall asleep on the way to bed, insisting on being up and he's almost 11. I can only wish I had their sleep control.

I think I might have control issues.

Oh, have you seen the "play the ball wherever the monkey drops it" story that's been going around? I actually thought of you when I saw it.

In the related scenario, I'm amazed that the parents don't indulge any routine and that they trust the kids so much as to not even move from their seats at bed time.

Perhaps, bonny, that IS the routine. Grace tells us when she is tired and she'd go to bed without routines, but I have to plug her into machines before I can feel comfortable with her sleeping.

We do sleep routines at our house. Brush teeth. Mark off calendar. Be told you are loved. Go to sleep. Noah will try to push it and get up once or twice about once every week or two. But that's it.

When I was a kid, I can remember being SUPER EXCITED that I get to go to sleep. I still feel that way.

play the ball wherever the monkey drops it

I had not heard about it until just now, but I love it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

That philosophy was exactly my experience in the peace march, so I had to ask, where do my control issues really come out?

It sort of, but not really, surprised me to realize that it's only when I'm responsible for someone else. My dog. A child. A client. When it's just me, my response is totally different.

When it is just me, I really do play wherever the monkey drops the ball.

eta: Just the other day, I cracked myself up when I accidentally broke one of my favorite plates. In the old days, I'd have trembled and had a totally _scene_ in my head. In this case, I immediately began thinking up art projects for the two nearly perfect halves.

It reminds me of David Wilcox's Leave It Like It Is .

I've truly striven maintain that attitude about the stuff of life.