The "no cry nap method", and our schedule going out the window

So, two big changes have been made in our household this week. The first one was me throwing our schedule out the window. (Not literally, and I don't condone litterring, by the way) This is a BIG deal to us. I had a large poster with our day mapped out in 15 minute increments. I am a schedule freak. I seriously have a schedule for my schedules LOL. So, case in point, this was huge! But it is a good thing so far. We are still following somewhat of a schedule that I have in my head, but the girls don't notice it so they feel a little more "free", if that makes any sense??

I had to come to the realization that not everyone loves schedules like I do. It's great for them to know what to expect, but controlling every part of every day doesn't work for some. We are going to try it out this way for a little while. So far, so good.

The second BIG change?? No crying at nap/bedtime!! Our middle daughter, Gracelynn, likes to be GREAT all the time until nap time and bed time. She then transforms into this evil little creature that cries, screams, and throws a fit... just because. I mean, she will say "Mommy, I'm tired".. and we are like SCORE!! because we think she's going to go to bed. Wrong. This child does NOT like to sleep. She has never liked to sleep. The rest of us... we love sleep. Maybe it's a middle child thing? Hmmm.

The way I got them to stop crying was .. well.. bribery. *Sigh* I admit it, I'm bribing my kids to do what they should be doing in the first place. But, before you start throwing things at me, hear me out. I'm bribing them without actually bribing them!! Awesome, right???

Before, with the schedule, they expected fun things every day because the schedule said so. They started to take fun things for granted: movie time, arts and crafts time, coloring time, etc. However, with no schedule, they don't really know what to expect... so when I said "Girls, listen... I'm really excited about this so pay attention. We are going to do a CRAFT PROJECT after nap time!!" Insert their excited gasps here. "Yes! Really.. a cool, awesome, spectacular art project! I can't wait!" By this time, they're sitting on the edge of their seats.. just begging for more. "So, this is what we need to do. We need to take a nice nap. By nice nap, I mean no crying, no fussing, no whining. Just lay down, chill out.. grab a baby.. and go to sleep. Just for a little bit. We'll make it a short nap, okay? How does that sound?" They, of course, went nuts for the idea.

SCORE!!!

So, for two days in a row now (which is a record for us, by the way), we have had ZERO crying at nap time!

Now, it's time to start the routine for bed time. I'll keep ya posted. ;)

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