Bedtime for bozos

I've been dusting off my repertoire of late. With Cate out of town I'm in charge of the bedtimes again, which is something that usually only happens when Cate works nights.

If Cate's in the house, Colleen and Robert (Colleen, mostly) just aren't willing to be put to bed by me. We'll give it another try when Cate comes home. But so far, somehow, the three nights Cate has been gone have all been nice and peaceful.

It reminds me of how the whole children bedtime routine got started, of course, with Elizabeth. We had a devil of a time getting her to sleep when she was little. (Actually, up until about the age of seven, but who's counting?) It always involved singing, some swaying, turning around in a circle, anything to calm her down and get her to sleep.

Since it was Christmastime, of course, Christmas carols were top of the mind, and one of them has stayed in the rotation for a decade: Silent Night. (If you have kid sleeping troubles, give it a try. Great song!) Elizabeth's other two songs were Up on the Roof and You Are My Sunshine.

When Robert came along, he was content to listen to Elizabeth's songs for a while, but eventually expressed a desire for his own. So he got I've Been Working on the Railroad.

And of course, Cate has her own set of songs. She tends to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and An Irish Lullaby. Neither of us knows the other's songs. And the kids seem to understand that just fine.