I’ve had a very predictable evening routine for the last several years. After dinner, get Samuel ready for bed. Then, at around 8:30 or so, I spent an hour or more on his second bed, usually with my laptop, because he would only go to sleep with someone in the room with him. After 60-90 minutes, when I was sure he was sound asleep, I’d slip out, maybe watch TV for 30 minutes and then retire myself at 10 p.m. or a little later.
A couple of months ago, we finally sought help on Samuel’s sleep problems (the bedtime routine and the fact that he rarely stayed in his room the full night). Over the last few weeks, he started to sleep all night in his bed, but he was still resistant to going to sleep alone. He wanted to do so, but was still afraid. Then, week before last at bedtime, Katie asked him again, and this time he said that he would try it. He’s gone to bed by himself almost every night since! He spent two nights over Thanksgiving weekend with his Uncle Jim, and he slept by himself in the gust room there. That was a very big accomplishment.
So, now I have my evenings again. Since Katie usually goes to sleep by 9:00 or so, it’s nice to have time again with her again. But in addition to that, I have time to myself to do whatever I want. I’m still adjusting. So far, I’ve watched quite a bit of TV. But now that I’m getting tired of TV, I’m starting to pick up my former activities: I’ve been thinking about getting my needlepoint out again and I’m thinking about some personal programming projects.