Competitive Parenting

I don't know which strategy paid off, but Aidan slept from 10 PM until after 6 AM. I woke up at 5 AM well rested but then went back to sleep because I didn't have anything else to do. All of my dissertation stuff is at work. I think I would have done that if I'd had it. But I needed the extra sleep too. Aidan came to our bed when he woke and then slept until 9 AM.

My theory is that he needs wind-down time before bed. Jason has a tendency to get him all hyped up before bed and then he's wired all night long. Of course, Jason claims that although getting hyped up before bed makes it difficult to get him down, it doesn't affect his overall sleep. I disagree, but what do I know? Apparently not much.

Jason's theory is that Aidan's just not tired enough to sleep well. I think this could be true given that his energy level matches or exceeds that of his father. And sometimes Jason is just not tired enough to sleep. And I think Grandma Agett sleeps for only a few hours per night. I'm not throwing this out as a plausible theory but then again, I'm a better researcher than Jason.

There we were, armed with our theories about what would help Aidan sleep better. Jason with his list of possible activities geared toward exhaustion. Me with my mental note to keep the time before bedtime calm and relaxing. The race was on!

We got in yesterday afternoon and Aidan had a snack. Then we were off to the park. Now, remember that we go to the park all the time. Aidan still doesn't sleep just because we go to the park. I mentioned this to my opponent but he shrugged it off and said, "Well, we just didn't do enough physically exhausting activity." Whatever!

The park was fun and there were lots of kids there. We went to a park that has a big wooden structure that's essentially a kids' sized maze that they can explore. It has a sandbox on one end and slides on either end. It's more like a big fort, really. It was fun and we spent several hours there. Jason claims Aidan was more exhausted than he usually is when he goes there or to any park. I'm suspicious of that statement.

When we left the park we were all hungry, so we went for pizza. On the way Aidan zoned out a little in the car, telling me that he was almost ready for his "wind down time." He ate very little, which would usually upset Jason. His alternative explanation is that Aidan is getting too busy to eat and then wakes up when his stomach growls in the middle of the night. When we were finished eating we headed for home with the hope of a good night's rest.

Once home we got ready for the bath and turned the lights down low. One thing that drives me crazy is that Jason's energy level makes it almost impossible to have quiet time. Twice when Jason was giving Aidan a bath I had to remind him that this was wind down time. He'd scoff a little and then calm down. I think he was trying to sabotage my plan. Here I was playing fair. Did I sabotage the time at the park? No. It was only right that he respect quiet time.

After bath the lights were still low and I had Jason turn on some music. He wanted to play Backyardigans, which is upbeat dance music. More sabotage? I replaced the cd with Chinese Lullabies. After some rocking I put him in his bed and he stayed there all night long. Unfortunately, we don't know who won but we both got sleep, so I guess we both won!