Our imaginative Miss Clare has been troubled with "bad" dreams lately.
There were several nights of interrupted sleep (for the whole family) because she couldn't understand why "the lady at the ice cream place wouldn't give her a napkin," or why "the worm crawled into the hole," or why "only Papa (where was everyone else?) was eating pizza with her." NO JOKE!
These sleepless parents came up with a plan:
Give Clare an incentive to stay in bed...for 7 nights!
We made a special chart that she got to check off every morning, and she chose the reward of going to "The Bouncy Thing at the Mall" at the end of seven successful nights. There was only ONE night that she didn't get a check, and the following morning resulted in at least 20 minutes of tears, begging, and pleading. Anyhow... after 8 days, she had 7 checks, and we were feeling rested (as much as can be expected at this stage of life) again. SUCCESS!
So...last night was the long awaiting reward
(she has wanted to do this thing ever since she spotted it at the mall).
Clare had a BLAST...
...but I think Daddy had just as much fun!
Do you think that Phil was going to let his 3.5 year-old
be the only one to have all the fun?
be the only one to have all the fun?
Phil impressed us with his Moves like Jagger...
or at least moves like a former collegiate diver. :)
We finished off the fun night by letting Clare pick ANYTHING she wanted from the Dollar Store. Big time, huh?! Well, she picked the Sponge Bob Popsicle. We thought she would pick something that she could take home with her...
...and I suppose she did.
I think Sponge Bob's eyes were made with Squid Ink, or soemthing like that, because her mouth was stained black for the rest of the night.
I'm happy to report that she made it through the night last night...
without her reward chart or bad dreams. :)
YEAH!
7 comments:
I was amused by the peanut gallery commenting on Clare's pointed toes during the video :)
Future stage dad maybe?!?!
Success for both the parents and Clare!
Before I got to Phil's video, I was thinking, "this is stuff that divers do!" Her life has already prepared her so much physically and mentally for the flips and air moves! :) She'll be SUCH a good diver!!
Good for Clare! Glad to hear you are making progress with full nights rest ;)! After LG watched the videos several times...she now wants the 'bouncy thing in the mall.' So, when she stops sucking her thumb, we will be finding that 'bouncy thing in the mall' Thank you for the great idea :)
That is so, so funny! I love imaging the whole thing! How do you even keep a straight face with her?!
I was going to say Squid Ink for Sponge Bob's eyes!! We must be sisters!!
Abbie loves the "bouncy thing" at our mall, too. So much fun, isn't it?!
Way to go Clare-Bear!
I love everything about this post! It is funny to hear what their "bad dreams" are. One night I heard Shane crying, "No, she's taking it away!!!" surely about Marissa :) That dollar store idea is a gem!
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