I’ve imagined this post for months now.
It may not be of general interest, but a few months ago, Milo started to get really into balloons, so every page in Goodnight Moon that has the balloon, he’d slap the book and shout “BALLOON” (or “BOON”). I couldn’t believe that what was such a mellow little book could rile him up so much. And before bed no less.
Eventually, he outgrew that phase. Weeks of outbursts subsided and the book became dull again.
But not anymore.
A few weeks ago, he discovered the mouse hiding in different places on every page. And he goes wild looking for it. He slaps the page hard and shouts, “MOUSE” (or “MOUSEY”) whenever he finds the roving rodent. I’m proud to say that he now knows where all the mouse locations are (even the tricky ones) — I think he’s ready for Where’s Waldo. And instead of Goodnight Moon, we now call it the mousey book.
Whitney offers us tips to get more out of Goodnight Moon when it is just too boring, but she doesn’t tell us how to calm down an irrationally overexcited toddler right before bedtime.
Anyone have any tips for us to unwind after an exciting book?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
When Laurie told the sleep consultant that books just seemed to rile Theo up, the expert said ditch the books. If you have a serious concern about literacy, dedicate book time in the morning. If not, just relax and add a round of “night night” to various things in the room.
After we read a bedtime story we turn off the light and tell a story in the dark. We’re in a Curious George phase so most of our stories are about him. I always try to end them with George going to sleep, which seems to be very calming for my daughter.
Before we got into George our stories were usually about a little girl just like my daughter who also ended each story by going to bed.