Go to sleep, little one

Why can't my kidlets just go to sleep already? We've had sleeping issues off and on with Mallory for the last year. I've tried lots of tricks -- wearing her out, playing music, laying in bed with her. To no avail. We have good days and bad days, but for some reason the bad days are outnumbering the good lately.

It's 9:30p Central time and my sweet little girl is still in there roaming around her room. It seems as though Mallory has inherited my night owl gene. Which is fine, but she's four years old and needs her beauty rest. Because honestly, tomorrow morning she's not going to be so sweet when she's whining about how tired she is and using the "I don't feel good" line to try to get out of going to school (which by the way, she learned that trick a little too early for my comfort; can you imagine the kidlet when it comes to her teenage years? oy vey!). And I get to remind her that is why she should have gone to sleep earlier.

So, why am I writing about something that in the general scheme of things is inconsequnetial? Well, first, I need to get my beauty sleep. In fact, I can use all the help I can get. Of course, I guess you could consider getting in and out of bed to the tune of "momma, I need you" or "momma, i have something to show you" or "momma, I'm thirsty/hungry" to be an exercise routine. Lucky Shawn usually snores through the whole routine. But, second and most important is that my little angels are sleeping in the same room and this extended bedtime is wreaking havoc on Truett. We unbunked the beds a few days before Christmas and ever since then they have been happy roommates. The first few days were bliss ... both in bed at reasonable times. But slowly, Mallie has been managing to push bedtime later and later. Even when we put her in at a normal time she stays in there and plays, which leads to waking up my sweet angel True. So how to break the cycle? I don't know, but I'm thinking that a straight jacket might get me in trouble.