it shouldn't be a surprise

It should not astonish my children that bedtime comes every night.

she sleeps upside down like a bat.   No...not really - just couldn't work out the photo orientation

 But it does.

For, oh let's say, all of their lives there have been complaints about bedtime.  And coming out.   And cries of - 'but surely it is not time yet!' (astonishing language from a 12 month old).

from 2008 - when they were babies.  Unlike now.

I don't feel I am being an unreasonable parent by requesting that they go to bed.  At a reasonable time.  But often my unreasonable voice has to come out before they are finally shooed into bed.

We have tried reward charts and ignoring and threats and sleeping with them and sleeping apart and both in the same room and both in different rooms and music and stories on CD and bedtime routines and warm milk and 'JUST GO TO BED ALREADY!'.

What worked well for a time was the Ladder Of Impending Doom.  This was a ladder on the fridge of 10 minute increments from 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm with a magnet representing the child positioned on the ladder at a certain time eg 7.30 pm.  If the child was difficult going to bed, or had any other misdemeanors during the day the magnet would descend the ladder, and that would be the next night's bedtime.  Gab was so revolting one day that her magnet got all the way down to 5.20 pm - and that's when she went to bed the next night.  She was very good the next day and her magnet went a little bit up the ladder.  Currently their ladder positions are at 7.40 pm.

We will continue with the Ladder Of Impending Doom - because it is fun to have on the fridge - and because I think probably the key with all this is consistency.  And I am determined that Annika will get enough sleep this year  to try and cut down on her feeling overwhelmed and anxious.  I am setting the boundary of sleeptime and she will push and rail against it like she always has.

Surely, they have been in this world for 20 years combined.

Bedtime should not be a surprise.