Bedtime Rituals

Bedtime rituals, as I have discovered, paves the way for better and easier sleep of the kids. Kuya is more likely to get up on his own in the mornings, especially on school days. Kowi is unlikely to wake up cranky.

Over the past months, we’ve somewhat pieced together our bedtime routine. Some were my ideas, but most of them came from the kids. Both kids had a say on how they wanted to be tucked into bed.

Normal bedtime is usually at 8:30pm. I remind the kids at around 20 minutes before that to set the mood. And when I call them to bed, there’ll be less fuss and complaints ( and cross my fingers). Kuya gets into his top bunk, Kowi jumps into the lower bunk.

We read one book aloud before lights off. On MWF, I do the storytelling. Kuya gets to do his share of the reading on TTH. The usual books that we like are by Dr. Seuss, Little Golden Books and Ladybird Favourite Tales. Kowi especially likes “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” because of the silly monster names.

When the reading is done, I turn off the lights and switch on their little orange night light. Then I sing “Rock-a-bye Baby” five times. Yes, I have to count each one with my finger or else the kids demand that I start from the top.

After my mini concert, I give Kowi a kiss, a big hug and a little nose-to-nose. We say, “I yab you” to each other and I tell her she’s the best. Kuya gets a kiss, an arm rub and we do our not-so-secret handshake. It’s actually a fist bump then wiggling of fingers. We say, “I love you” and then I tell him he’s the best.

And I say good night to both of the kids at the door and then I get to do my personal mom bedtime ritual.