911 Follow-Up

Thank you to those who gave me their advice both here, on FB, and via text. I got some good advice and will definitely try what y'all suggested!

After mulling things over, I decided to take the shoes away and take away the iPad & sweets for a week. I did still go to the concert at the fair - for multiple reasons. #1 - I paid $30 for my ticket and feel like mom needed some fun. #2 - Madi stayed the night at her gma's. Gma can punish better than me ;) and I filled her in on Madi's restrictions. #3 - I felt like the above was enough.

Some may think children should always, no matter what behave 100%. I disagree. I wrote the post last night when I was still very much upset by the nights events. Although I do not think being tired, dealing with stresses of her parents divorcing, or changes of routine are an excuse, I do think they should be considered.

I guess this post is somewhat justifying my decision. I don't want to do that. I feel good with my decision! I really am going to try y'alls suggestions to get M to fall asleep on her own. I will let y'all know how it turns out!

I'll post a concert/fair recap eventually. It was a blast!

911 for Mommy Advice

I need your advice. Anyone's. Everyone's. I'm clueless right now.

I've finally got Madi sleeping in her bed, throughout the night (most of the time). The current behavior I'm trying to change is that I have to sing her to sleep. Sometimes this takes 5 minutes, sometimes this takes 30 minutes - it just depends on how tired she is. So I talked to her last night and tonight about going to sleep on her own. I also told her counselor and she talked to her about it today. I knew Madi was still not pleased with the idea so tonight I sang her 7 songs before even trying to leave. When I did try to leave she basically panicked and clung to me for dear life. I sang one more song and then the same thing happened when I tried to leave.

I tried everything y'all.

I tried the super nanny method of telling her what I expect, telling her I'm only going to tell her once, and then I did not say a word. I put her in her bed, walked out, put her back in her bed, repeat. I did this at least 10 times. Now, I know Super Nanny would have kept going until she couldn't walk anymore, but well, she's super. I'm not. I'm a tired mom who has worked all day, taken her child to dance, returned something at Kohl's, stopped at Publix, given her child a bath, and barely eaten dinner. So I proceeded with the typical "if you do not stay in your bed then..." I realize this is probably not effective at this point in the game. I was/am desperate.

I just bought her some new shoes tonight. I am not a fan of them at all but she HAD TO HAVE THEM. I told her before things got out of control that if she did not stay in her bed I would return the shoes. I even resorted to telling her I would cancel my plans tomorrow night meaning she would not spend the night at grandma's and I would be sure she went to bed right after dinner. Again, made no impression on her at the moment; however, I'm thinking it may be a good idea.

So I guess these are my questions to y'all -

• She is seriously in love with her new shoes. I've never seen her so excited about something. Do I have to return them since I said I would or can I simply take them away for a week?
• Should I stay home tomorrow night (my plans are a concert at the State Fair) in order to make sure she goes to bed early and to prove that I was serious? My thought here is that she truly needs some consistency on this bedtime thing. I'm thinking this might be a good idea even though it would stink for me. If I did stay home though she would also not get any tv for a week because this is causing me to change my plans.
• What can I do to help her go to bed by herself? She has music, a fan, and a night light already.

Thanks moms!

Help is appreciated!