I. Am. A. Genius.

Yeah, so maybe you’ve heard me talk about how Mallory falls asleep in our bed every night. And that it doesn’t necessarily make me sad that she sleeps in there, but I’m starting to get nervous that as Carson is getting close to transitioning to a big boy bed, that he’s going to think he can fall sleep in our bed every night too. This has already started a little because he wants to read his bedtime book in our bed and then we move him to his bed.

And maybe you’ve heard me talk about how much Rick’s football schedule sucks – and how I’m on duty all by myself almost every night.

So I’ve been trying to figure out how to make bedtime easier and faster. Mallory won’t nap at kindergarten so we needed to move her bedtime up, and I needed to find a way to find ten minutes of alone time for myself. I love my kids with all my heart, but being *on* and tending to their every need all by myself from 4p until 8p or 9p is exhausting. In order to accomplish this, I needed to figure out a new bedtime routine (so in four months when Carson is in a big kid bed, I’m not fighting him to stay in his own bed, and trying to get Mallory to sleep in her own bed too).

The first thing is that we did was ask daycare to not let Mallory nap. I figured this would help her go to bed earlier than 9p every night and move up her bedtime.

Secondly, I made this super cute bed canopy thing for her bed. Yep, I made it. Probably cost me more than buying it Ikea, but it saved me a tank or two of gas so it is probably close to a wash, cost-wise.

forgive the poor quality iPhone picture…

Anyway, this is why I’m a genius. Mallory loves her new princess canopy. It’s been up for two nights, and she has gone to bed in her own bed at bedtime like nobody’s business.

As of this week, our new bedtime routine is this:

• baths for both
• read a book in mom & dad’s bed
• I “cuyul” (cuddle) Carson for a few minutes in the rocking chair and then he goes in his crib (and usually goes down very easily).
• I read Mallory one more book in her own bed and then I rub her arm for a few minutes.
• Mallory gives me some commentary about how her new princess “dresser room” works – like “this is how princesses sleep” and “princesses don’t sleep with any lovies”, etc.
• Mallory comes down for more water about 20 minutes later but goes right back up to her room.
• Mom gets 30-60 minutes of quiet time to do photography work or whatever.

I am the smartest mom ever. Go me and my crafty princess canopy making skills.