Latest sleep snatcher: Leopardocorns

In an effort to get the boys ‘excited about sleep!’ I bought Sammy a nice puffy new mattress; and had the guys at Bunk & Loft factory bunk the beds. It looks fab - a sturdy twin over full configuration with a ladder. Jack rarely sleeps in his own bed, so as owner of the top bunk, there is little danger of him rolling out. You actually have to be sleeping in your bed to roll out.

Jack does “relax in his clubhouse” in the evenings, now. But sleep? Not so much. Sam likes the closed-in nature of his bottom bunk bed, so his sleeping pattern is improving. Meanwhile, my efforts to “parent them to sleep” as Dr. Sears would advise, are those of a fumbling new parent.

Perfect example last night: I’m tucking them in; Jack brings up the topic of a thunderstorm. Sam is afraid of thunderstorms. “…and remember we saw a rainbow mom?!” he yells from his ‘clubhouse.’ I'm no more than 2 feet away.

Without thinking, I respond: “Oh yes, that was beautiful. Hey, do you guys know what’s at the end of a rainbow? A pot of gold!”

“It is?!” Sam excitedly asks.

I answer: “Yes! But…” (and here’s the major parenting gaffe) “if you find it, watch out for the leprechaun. He’ll try to get your pot of gold.”

D’oh! Instant regret the second the words came tumbling out of my mouth.

Sam’s eyes filled with terror. “WHAT’S A LEPRACHAUN?”

Jack – seizing my rookie-parent mistake – pipes up from the clubhouse at top volume: “A leopardacorn is a MONSTER!”

“No!” I say. Sam’s eyes are saucers at this point, while Jack rambles on about how the “leopardocorn” will chase you around and around.

I had to separate them and thus, rookie parenting gaffe #2: allowing the mischievous child to scare his brother so mom will remove his from their shared room; giving him no choice but the sleep in mom’s room – exactly what he wanted all along.

Darn leopardocorns!