How to Give Super Nanny a Run For Her Money

(So, what are you thinking about my How-To Week so far? Is it a keeper?)

When my grandmother passed away, I inherited a lovely master bedroom set. The king -sized bed frame and mattress was a timely blessing as I met my future husband only a month later and would soon be in need of a matrimonial resting place. As grateful as I was for my inherited bed set, the twenty plus year old mattress was a little funky to sleep on, especially considering it came complete with body shapes already permanently formed on each side. As much as I loved my grandma, it was weird.

A few years later, we were able to afford a new mattress. Life just doesn't get much better when you have a new comfortable mattress. Especially a king-sized comfortable mattress. It didn't take long for our kids to realize this either and ever since we've spent few nights alone in our inherited/new/king-sized/comfortable bed.

I am a bed hog and I like my space, especially if it involves getting a good night's rest. I HATE having the kids in our bed. So, I set about devising a way to stop the sleepy stowaways this summer.

We had tried many other tactics, even Super Nanny's technique of repetitively taking them back to bed. We had tried the whole school of thought to make the night time visitors take a spot on the floor by our bed. They didn't care. They would curl up on the floor and as soon as we drifted off, they would sneak into our bed. We tried gentle reminders and angry demands. Nothing worked.

One day, it dawned upon me. It was so simple, I initially figured it wouldn't work. But wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles...IT DID! Take THAT Super Nanny!

How to Stop Co-sleeping in its Sleepy Little Tracks:


I have a few dry erase boards on my fridge. I told the kids that each night they would stay in their own beds ALL night that I would give them a star. After they had each earned seven stars we would go as a family to the local swimming pool that they had already been begging to go to.

They were instantly on board...until the middle of the first night when they both came creeping in, steadfast in their bad bed habits. After a few reminders of the star system and a few return trips to their bedroom, they started to catch on.

The next morning they anxiously asked if they could have a star. I'm a stickler. No stars for that night. They realized I was serious though and they tried harder the next night. Dee successfully stayed in his bed ALL night. Jeigh...not so much, but when she saw that Dee got his first star the next morning, she resolved to try harder.

Over the course of the next two weeks, they both earned all seven stars. As promised, off to the pool we went!


I was so proud of them for showing some self-control, discipline, and responsibility for their actions. And I was pretty proud of me for figuring out such a simple solution to end our sleep struggles. No money spent. No complicated charts (which I wouldn't have known how to make anyway). No spanking or anger.

And the idea stuck for several months after. To be honest, they are slipping back into their old wee-hours wandering ways, but now I know what I can do to stop my little sleepwalkers.

Give it a try! You will be amazed at how simple manipulating controlling helping your kids to overcome bad habits can be.

"Tis a gift to be simple..."

...'tis a gift to be free." (Shaker song lyrics)

(Image from Google Images)

Our internet service has been down and out for the past three days. At first I was rather put out by its absence.

How am I supposed to get my writing work done? How do I keep an ever-watchful eye on my dwindling bank account? How do I stay up-to-date on all my favorite blogs and videos and gossip and news?

What caught me very much by surprise was all the free time I suddenly had. And how simple and focused and productive I became.

I transformed my scary hole of an office into a crafting and food storage sanctuary.
I took my girls on a long trip to the library.
I stayed triumphantly on top of my housework.
I baked cookies.
I planned out a few projects.
I shut off my auto-pilot mommy and focused in visually and mentally on my children's faces instead of the computer screen.

I laid on my bed for an entire hour with nothing to do but stare out the window and think. I can't remember how long it has been since I have done that. It was absolutely refreshing.

What surprised me even more was how much more calm and at peace and satisfied I felt.

Sadly, the internet service started working again today.

As soon as I realized it was on again, a cold and clutching and claustrophobic sense of chaos and panic and much-too-much took grip.

As convenient and wonderful as the internet and technology can be...I think I would just like to shut down my laptop, hide it away in a deep dark closet, and pretend it doesn't exist for a little while longer.

Life is so much simpler and more satisfying without having the world at your fingertips every waking second.

Besides, it is snowing today. Big fluffy snowflakes of pure cold deliciousness. That is something my little family hasn't seen from the warmth of their own home in two long years of Arizona living.

I think today I am much too busy to go surfing or browsing or networking.

I have my hands full with gazing out my window at the winter wonderland that is falling into place while sipping on hot chocolate and talking AND listening to my children.

And that makes me very very happy.

Bullying Begins?

This morning I overheard my five-year old son, Dee, asking Jeigh (four) if he could come to her class from now on. I was confused. I was under the impression he loved school. Then I heard him tell her he needed new friends because "the boys in red shirts" were being mean to him.

What?!

I had to find out what was going on. When I tried to investigate without being accusational (innocent until proven guilty, right?), I was further frustrated. Getting details from a five-year old can be less than satisfying.

As far as I could gather from what Dee was saying was that there was a group of boys in red shirts at school that were pushing and pulling on him. Sometimes they'd even hit him. Mr. Cook (the principal) would get mad at them, but then they would hide from the principal and keep doing it. It was distressing enough for Dee that he wanted to go to preschool with Jeigh in search of new friends. When I asked if I should talk to his teacher about it, he said no.

I am confused. This is a first for me as a mom. Do I believe my son, who just may have been watching a little too much Karate Kid with his dad and mixing reality with fiction? or do I just let it go and wait to hear if it happens again, then take care of it? I don't dare ask his dad because I know what his response would be; the man has watched the Karate Kid series multiple times since we have been married. There's a reason.

It makes me so sad that this is happening already. The boy has been in Kindergarten for barely three weeks. Kids aren't mean at this stage are they? Or is this just the beginning of many years of bullying to come? (By the way, I am not naive enough to think it won't happen someday, but this young?)

The best I could do this morning was tell him that no one should be mean to anyone and if it happened again he needed to immediately find his teacher or the principal and tell them. AND to not be mean back. Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi might think it's okay to fight back, but the Savior would not.

Tell me, oh wise mothers, what would you do in this situation???

Post-Post: I forgot to add the morning family prayer Dee gave this morning:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Please bless me to be safe at school. Please help me to be able to come home today. Please bless I can eat dinner again tonight.

Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."