I love you stinky face...

I am a well-oiled machine, have a set bedtime routine for my little guys... and yet, it is 10:47 and Cooper is just falling to sleep. Mason is sitting in my lap, still fighting sleep. These stinky boys hate bedtime. Try as I might, I can't get them in bed. It's making me hate bedtime, too. I blame it on the time change, because that's when the real problems started. But let's face it, I've been letting Coop slide down this slippery slope for months.

Our night goes something like this... (the authors of Love and Logic can bite my skinny ass)

8 p.m.
Mom: Cooper, would you like to go to bed now, or in 30 minutes?
Coop: Ummmm, I don't know. ( he says this because he knows I'm trying to trick him into agreeing to a bedtime)
Mom: Would you like Mom to decide?
Coop: Ummmmm, no. (sometimes accompanied by an, "I don't like that idea." I'm not kidding.)
Mom: Would you like to brush your teeth or dino-smoke (his euphemism for nebulizer breathing treatment of the steroid pulmicort)
Coop: Dino

8:30 p.m. (I'm still chasing him around the living room, trying to get him to sit still long enough to take the treatment)

8:45 p.m.
Mom: Cooper, would you like to go to bed now, or go upstairs and read 3 books in bed?
Coop: Ummmmmm, I don't know.
Mom: Would you like mom to decide?
Coop: Ummmmm, no.

9 p.m. (I'm trying to get a toothbrush in his mouth and he's giggling and running around the house with PJs on the bottom, nothing on top. Also yelling, "I'm naked!")

9: 30 p.m.
Mom: Cooper, it's a bummer that you wasted so much time tonight. Now there is no time for stories.
Cooper: I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories!I want to read stories! -- I probably don't need to tell you what this sounds like. But you can bet it's right up there with getting your stomach pumped.

10 p.m.
Mom: Cooper, if you don't fall asleep right now you'll be too tired to watch the garbage guy in the morning.
Coop: starts screaming and wailing in utter sorrow as this is his absolute favorite activity
Mom: Hurry and get in bed and close your eyes or you will be too tired to watch the garbage guy.
Cooper: still crying and whimpering saying things like, "Tomorrow is a big day. I want to watch the garbage man." yada yada

10:30 p.m.
Mom: Cooper, I can see you. Please get back in bed.
Coop: Shrieking and giggling as he scampers back to bed.
This cycle of getting out of bed and mom catching him usually lasts anywhere from 20-40 minutes. Eventually he just zonks out. Sometimes he's in a bed, sometimes he's on the floor.

Tomorrow I'll start with the Garbage truck line.