Getting 6 children ready for bed is somehow a lot more work than getting one child to bed. Since Rachel and Sam are really the only 2 not capable of completely readying themselves for bed we tend to neglect them until the end while we herd the rest of the children through the process. We figure that since they don't have school it doesn't matter if they get to bed exactly on time. Not that we've ever successfully gotten all 6 of the children to bed at exactly the same time or exactly on time.
We had most of the kids completely ready, except the youngest 3, yesterday night. Megan was busy brushing her teeth and we were just getting Sam's toothbrush ready when Rachel walked into the bathroom.
"Teeth!" she said, bringing her index finger up to her mouth and swishing it back and forth like an imaginary toothbrush, "Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!"
Unfortunately I had to disappoint her, "Rachel, your toothbrush isn't in this bathroom."
"Teeth!" she insisted.
"This is Sam's toothbrush. Go find yours."
"Teeth! Teeth! Teeth! Teeth! Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!" she chanted mechanically as she wandered around the house looking for her toothbrush.
Eventually she found Megan in the hallway bathroom. Megan was still brushing her teeth; she has this amazing ability to take any 2-minute task and turn it into a 10-minute one, especially if it involves water in any way. After a few minutes I went off to find Rachel's toothbrush for real (since I knew where it was and that she didn't know where it was) and Andrew went to find Rachel.
She was still in the bathroom with Megan and was acting like she had a robotic glitch. She was reaching for the counter with her arms stretched up above her head, looking at the ground and still chanting, "Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!"
Every time she said "Teeth!" she'd take a step forward and hit her head on the cabinet.
I smoothly intervened by shoving her toothbrush in her mouth during a step-away-from-counter moment.
"Teeth!" she crooned and started brushing up a storm.
Sometimes she just gets stuck on things.
And they just don't get bored by those thing, do they... you have to put the brakes on or they'd go on for hours! We get bored long before they do.
ReplyDeleteAHAHA that's a great story!
ReplyDeleteTeeth. She was very focused on that wasn't she? That's so cute!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm glad to hear Russel's not the only kid who periodically bangs his head on things on purpose. Rachel would make a really cute robot.
ReplyDeleteOh Nancy, your writing cracks me up!
ReplyDeleteI can totally picture the whole thing.
I thought it was weird that Sunshine hits her head sometimes, but the more I get to know other children, the less it worries me.