My Children Are Nocturnal

The last few nights, the boys have been refusing to go to bed. We start getting them ready between 7:30 and 8:00 and hope to have them in bed by 8:30pm at the latest. They get their second wind by that time and run through the house, rummage through the cabinets, and tear their room apart. Last night they even managed to get outside and locked the door behind them. This goes on until about 11:00pm. I have tried every technique I can think of to get them to bed and asleep at a reasonable hour and nothing has worked. This happens regardless of whether they have taken a nap or not. Then when morning comes around and we get them up at 7:00am, they either stare off into space or throw a tantrum when trying to get them dressed or fed.



This morning when I got Jay up I took him to the bathroom. He was dry so I knew he would have to go. He screamed the whole way and stiffened his body so I couldn't sit him on the toilet. I finally bribed him to sit on the toilet and he started to pee, while he was peeing he was also playing and managed to soak the bathroom rug and floor in urine. Then he refused to get dressed. I threatened to take him to the sitter's naked which didn't phase him. He started screaming that he wanted to wear a diaper rather than a pull-up. Owen was in a peacekeeping mood this morning and told Jay, "Jay you are a big boy. You don't wear diapers anymore." To which Jay screams, "NOOOOOOO!" Then Owen turns to me and says, "Mommy, I am a nice boy. I'll wear a pull-up for you." I ended up wrestling clothes on Jay and got them both to the sitter's. I wished her luck.

Jay looks so sweet.