Preston, The Pill!

So, lately we’ve had this problem with Preston. He just won’t go to bed at night. He keeps getting out of bed every 2 minutes. It gets so frustrating!

A couple of nights ago, we were experiencing this. Danny put him to bed. Two minutes later he gets up and smiles at me. I put him back to bed, scolding him the whole way. Another two minutes went by and, of course, he got out of bed again. This time I heard him before he even opened his bedroom door. So I tapped his bum as he ran back to his bed. I told him that if he got out of bed again then he would get a spanking and I would put him in timeout.

Of course, knowing Preston, that didn’t phase him. He got out of bed, came waltzing into our bedroom, and waited for me to do as I had warned. So, I grabbed him, spanked him, and put him in timeout. “That’ll show him,” I thought.

He sat there patiently. He was there for a good 10 to 15 minutes as I completely ignored him (except for when he started to play, then I scolded him for playing). I was bound and determined to get it into his thick scull that when it is bedtime, he is not to play around. That he just needs to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Danny came upstairs and saw him sitting on the stairs in timeout. I explained what had happened and he asked if I wanted him to take him back to bed. I told him yes, but only after I had reprimanded him again. I told the little twerp to come here. He came to stand before me as is the tradition in our house after they have had a timeout. I looked into his naughty little blue eyes and began with, “Preston, you need to stay in bed when mom and dad puts you there! No more getting out of bed, do you understand me?”

Of all the things that this little two-year old could do at this moment in time, he decided to look away with a sly little grin on his face. He quietly said, “O-tay” while looking at me from the corner of his eye.

Grrrrr… I hate when he does that. He uses every single ounce of cuteness that is in his small body and throws it at me with full force. He may as well have been saying, “Oh, come on mom… Ya know you love me.”

I tried again (though it was much less effective with a huge grin on my face). “Preston, this is not funny. You need to go to sleep.” This time, instead of a sly little grin, he looks at me full on with the biggest smile that could ever fit on a toddlers face, as if to say, “Whatever you say, mom… We all know that I run this house.”

I still don’t quite know what to do with this little stinker that has graced us all with his presence. He continues to do what he wants, without giving any second thought to any form of discipline. Yet I love him so deeply. Isn’t that the biggest miracle of being a parent? No matter what our children do, we would never love them any less. It makes me appreciate our Heavenly Father’s love for us. How unconditional His love is!