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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Super Nanny!!

I have watched Super Nanny from time to time. I think it is Super Nanny, it could be Nanny 911. It's the one with Jo, the nanny with the British accent. I do not watch it regularly, in fact I am not even sure when it is on. But, the few times I have caught it I am always amazed by what she does and vow to watch it more. When is it on?
Anyway, the last episode I saw was a family with 4 out of control kids. They were having sleep issues with one of the daughters, who happened to share a room with one of her sisters. Jo told the parents to put her back in her bed without saying a word. They did this a number of times, amidst absolute hysterics, and eventually she went to sleep. If my memory serves me correctly, the other daughet was asleep, somehow. When I watched this episode I had no idea I would eventually need to dig through the memory banks of useless TV I've watched to recall the episode. With the way my memory is these days I am surprised I recalled any of it.
Anyway, last weekend Ryder decided to return to his favorite past-time of his 16th month and jump out of the crib again. This time he did it only when he woke up in the morning or after a nap. There is nothing better than a 2 year old at your sleeping head at 6 am shouting mommy at an octave forbidden at such hours. Todd and I wondered what steps to take in such a situation, but felt fortunate that he was not giving us a hard time at bedtime.
Tonight that changed. Of course, as luck would have it, Todd was out for the night leaving me to fly solo as Ryder jumped from his crib a total of 6 times. The first time I went and got him, told him he must stay in his crib, put him down, kissed Chase, and headed out. I knew this was just the beginning. Within seconds he was out again. The thing is, however, it was not Ryder that was causing me distress, it was Chase. Chase was behaving beautifully, laying his head down for bed, quiet, but every time Ryder jumped he would cry out "NO RYDER, DON'T DO THAT!! STAY IN YOUR CRIB." The poor kid got so upset. When I took Ryder back in, not saying a word to him as Jo the Super Nanny says to do, I did not have the heart to ignore Chase, which probably defeated the purpose. I would put Ryder down, then hug Chase, tell him how good of a boy he was being and that it was Ryder misbehaving, but his tears made this game difficult. After Ryder jumped out for the 6th time I decided to ignore him all together. He sat at the top of the steps, where a gate he can't climb over (surprisingly) prevented him from coming down to me. He cried, he begged, he called for me, he told me he did not want to take a nap. I, being mother of the year, ignored my hysterical son. It was not easy, luckily there's such a thing as facebook to take your mind off your screaming child. Within 25 minutes he was asleep, blanket in hand, at the top of the steps. When I went to get him, I looked at him, and despite the hysterics earlier heard, I saw him for what he is, so damn cute!!!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey Wendy!

I'm impressed that Super Nanny (or Nanny 911?) gave such great advice. If you happen to find yourself having other sleep issues that were not discussed on the show, you should check out the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. That book is wonderful and has great advice! I love reading the blog, especially since I'm all the way out here in Texas! Hope to see you guys over Rosh Hashana!

-Sarah