Domestic Psychology

sad Evan

// February 25th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // flickr, health

sick day

// February 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // flickr, health, preschoolers

waiting is hard

// December 23rd, 2008 // 2 Comments » // holidays, parenting

One of the children who is old enough to know better went to bed at 8:30 tonight. Earlier than his school night bedtime, during his winter break, without prompting, he tucked himself in bed. Doug and I quizzed him to find out if anything physical or emotional was causing him pain. Eventually, his words revealed that he thought tomorrow is Christmas. As soon as he realized his mistake, he was wide awake and out of bed. Ironically, tomorrow night, the actual Christmas Eve, it will take me hours to get everyone calmed down and tucked into bed.

anything to stay awake

// November 26th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // parenting, sleep

Amy is going through a very annoying sleep avoidance phase. Every single night she uses all the traditional excuses to avoid bed and then she creates some new reasons to stall. If Amy is to be believed, every night at bedtime she is suddenly starving to death, dying of thirst, hot, cold, itchy and in need of the bathroom. She wants someone to read to her and she wants to read to them. She can’t sleep alone, in her bed, in her room and in her jammies. She is afraid of the color black. There is someone knocking on her window. The room is too quiet and the room is too noisy. The wrong toys are in her bed and there are both too many and too few stuffed animals. Last night, the black widow spiders were going to crawl in her bed. I told her that was silly. “Don’t you know that it’s the Brown Recluse spiders which will bite you in your sleep?” Not really. I rolled my eyes and tossed her back in her bed for the millionth time. Where does she get this stuff? I’m NEVER ridiculous.

If no crib, then no sleep.

// September 15th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // parenting, preschoolers, sleep

We kept Evan caged in his crib for longer than any other child. I say caged because the crib had a mesh tent on top to stop the climbing out in the middle of the night that started when Evan was barely walking. I say had a tent because Evan ripped that tent to shreds. I need to quit saying I say. Without the tent, the crib was useless. Saturday night, we disassembled the crib and dragged out the old toddler bed. It is now Monday night. Evan has not fallen asleep in that little bed one single time. He jumps on it. He plays in it. He says “all done, awake now” repeatedly. He just doesn’t sleep in it unless he falls asleep elsewhere and we carry him to the bed. The only way he will sleep now is with his big sister. The problem with this method is that his sister is a teenager who is frequently out very late and almost as frequently, sleeping over at her best friend’s house. Unless someone in East Tennessee takes the crib, I am considering reassembling it and putting it over Evan, upside down. When Evan doesn’t sleep, nobody sleeps. We need sleep!

whatcha watching?

// September 2nd, 2008 // 1 Comment » // media, movies, television

One of Doug and I’s favorite parts of going to see a movie in the theater is watching the previews together. After each preview, we declare the movie a must see, a wait for the dvd or a no way, no how. We generally agree on the nostalgia and comedies, but on everything else, well, not so much. Doug gets excited about any movie with a helicopter or a submarine. B-movies are like magnets. I am repelled by the movie and Doug is attracted to the movie. At home, Doug watches his movies in one room and I usually busy myself in another room. The time when we watch movies together is late at night after everyone else is asleep. When it’s Doug’s night to choose the entertainment, the results vary greatly. Sometimes he’ll pick something he knows I’ll like. Other times, he’ll try to convert me to one of his movies. The exact same thing happens every single night. Fifteen minutes into the movie, Doug falls asleep and I am unable to change the channel because I have some kind of sickness that forces me to always see a movie through to the end. It doesn’t matter if it’s something scary or something silly, I feel compelled to watch the entire torturous thing.

A few nights ago, Doug turned to “Bruce Campbell vs Army of Darkness.” Shortly after the chainsaw replaced Bruce’s hand, Doug was snoring. There are no words for the level of horrible that is this movie. Yet, I watched the entire pointless thing. It wasn’t as horrible as being forced to watch Rambo part 72, but still, it was bad. I hope they made it that terrible on purpose. What I would really like to know is if I am the last person to realize that Colbert is deliberately channeling Bruce Campbell when he does Tek Jansen. If Bruce isn’t a guest on Colbert as part of his upcoming tour, I will be very disappointed in both of them. I want to see Bruce ask Stephen to give him some sugar. Colbert and Campbell are now intertwined in my brain. You know, like a really bad movie starring, well, you know who.

Who needs a nap?

// July 25th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // flickr