A Power Struggle with Luke

There's nothing like a power struggle with your two-year-old. It's all about him wanting to sleep wherever he wants: the couch, the floor of the living room, or the floor of his room, but not in his bed.

We had to put him back in there too many times to count tonight, but he has finally stayed put. It actually took an hour and a half! I thank God for giving me the patience to hang in there, be firm with bringing him back every time, and for not losing my cool.

We absolutely cannot lock him in his room. For some reason, that terrifies him. When I just put the baby gate across the bedroom door, he went hysterical. After 10 minutes of being locked in there, he was crying so hard he started choking. Apparently it scares him to death if he realizes he can't get out of his room by himself. So, we'll be passing on the door locks.

The first hour went well... just a lot of putting him back over and over. As soon as I'd get up he'd turn around and walk right back in his room. But then he started getting hysterical when Marty took over. For some reason, it had to be me to take him back... he kept crying for mommy. I had to hold him until he settled down a little bit, tell him I loved him... then when I put him back he finally stayed put.

Unfortunately, Marty goes to bed early since he's up by 5 am, so I'm the one who has to put Luke to bed almost every night. And he's a night owl like be, so bedtime is around 9:30 - 9:45. (What a blessing that Lexie will sleep from 8:30 pm until 9 am most every night now!)

The crazy thing about Luke is that he'll go right to sleep if I let him stay on the couch. Some nights I had reached the limit for my patience and just let him stay... so, I ended up creating a monster!

But after talking to a couple of friends and hearing what they did for bedtime, I realize that I just had to stay firm... I'm the one in charge... not him!