But I Said Please
Greetings to everyone.
Bedtime for Xavier has grown into something of a monster. In part because on school days he takes a late nap and does not want to get up no matter how much badgering it takes to wake him.
But the biggest issue is Xavier seems to be something of a night owl. He grows more awake as the night grows late. The preferred bedtime for him is 9 o'clock. This means starting about eight thirty on a uncomplicated night.
Xavier has started a massive squirrel campaign when it comes to going down for bed. We'll agree to read two books, he'll press for three and four after finishing the second.
We'll sit a while after reading. He'll sense it's time to move to the bed, then want a banana, or milk, or water or yogurt or anything that gets him out of his room again.
Most recently, after exhausting the food angle, he's added "I have to poop," which requires turning on a light and him sitting for ten or fifteen minutes doing nothing (because it's a squirrel! technique). He has refined this to needing to use the big potty (regular toilet) because his little potty (in his room) "hurts his butt."
Last night, he quietly lay in my lap. I grew all the more confident I had wrangled the last of the squirrels and he was on his way to a restful sleep.
Just before committing to putting him from my lap to his bed, Xavier looked up at me and said, "I want an apple, please."
Tired myself, I told him he had just eaten yogurt (a nightly bedtime ritual), and that this was just another squirrel technique (yes, I used the word squirrel in my explanation of the denial to his request).
Xavier looked at me with a wounded expression and in a forlorn tone said, "But I said please!"