Bed Time Bargaining

Normally I am not the type of person who likes to re-hash things. For me it's normally 'Yup, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, now lets find something else to do.' I can count on one hand the books which I have re-read a second time: Gilpins Space, Space Viking, Empyrion Books 1 & 2 and of course the Bible. When it comes to music I may listen to a CD over and over for a few weeks but then put it away for years before I pull it out to listen to again. I went to Disneyland when I was ten years old and since then have not had the desire to ride another rollercoaster, much to my wife's displeasure because she wants someone to ride them with.

So it has come as a real surprise that now that I have become a Dad this part of my character has somehow changed, there are actually books which I like to read every day, and Music I like to listen to every night. Well, only because I know if I read this certain book and play that particular song then at least one little boy (Dragon) will be strangely comforted and nod of to sleep.

However, his older brother Lion, loves to play the 'Bed Time Bargaining' game before going to sleep. We go through a similar pre-bed routine, bath, story, prayer and music to nod of to sleep to, but as soon as we leave the room, 'Mum, I need a glow stick', 'Dad, I want you to pat my back for one more song', 'I can't sleep, I've had a yuckky dream' ("You haven't even closed your eyes yet, Lion) and the most frequent one is 'Dad, I need a drink.'

Back to the repetive nature of bed time, I may feel the same way about 'The Foot Book' as Mum-me does 'Duck on a Bike' yet I know that it will get little Dragon to bed a whole lot easier than if I tried to get him to sleep without it. As a child I used to know 'Green Eggs and Ham' off-by-heart but try as I might The Foot Book is all Dragon wants to read, well it used to be Smelly Bertie (its about a boy who 'lets fluffy off the chain' everywhere he goes) so I guess The Foot Book is a better alternative and when it comes time to nod off to sleep, its got to be Adam Cunningham. Lion likes Twila Paris rendition of an old hymn 'Precious Jewels' but Dragon he likes Country Rock and nothing else will do. After listening to this CD ad nausem for nearly 2 years I think I sing the first track exactly like good ole Adam himself including his accent and inflections.

Anyway back to the 'Bed Time Bargaining' game. Lately Dragon has been testing his Dad to see how far he can push concerning bed time and staying up. Mostly he trys 'Mummmmm.... Mummmm... MUM!!!!' when Adams dulcet tones start up and we gave in the first few times, but knowing now that it is a test tonight I told him that he had already said good night to mummy and it was now time to listen to the music and go to sleep, this seemed to work fine I had him all settled in this bed but as I was walking out the door to his room, I hear this little voice in the dark saying 'Dink Dink' (translate I want a drink). Hmmm.... I wonder where he picked that up from.

-Wolf McT

Did You Know: Reading this book (The Foot Book) will teach the reader that you should not judge any one because of what they look like or in this case their feet. I guess that could be true considering that 'The Lorax' has a thinly veiled environmental message, I can also remember a Dr Seuss book about Weapons of Mass Destruction' and aparently Green Eggs and Ham may be interpreted as a fable to encourage children to try new things in order to gain their benefits. Perhaps fear, pride or a feeling of superiority are making the main character grumpy and resistant to change and self-improvement. And here I thought it was about Peer Pressure and Salmonella Poisoning, silly me.