Breaking Bad Habits

I always joke that David traveling gives Mommy the opportunity to break bad habits. The latest focus has been Evelyn banging on her door (waking up early and at bed time) and Sylvia waking up the whole house in the middle of the night with tears and claims of a "bad dream." We have a good reward system (they earn 7 magnets they get a prize), but Evelyn wasn't enticed. Unfortuntely, Mommy's mad face had to come out and the good old time out approach broke Evelyn of her banging. We also have a light on a timer for her at night (I think part of her difficulty was her transition to the toddler bed and perhaps a fear of the dark), which has helped. She also used to get very upset when she spilled milk or we switched milk cups or plates. Now she calmly communicates "whoops, let's clean that up" or "Mommy, you switched our cups." Smoothing out the ups and downs has been a challenge, but she's doing great. A few solid days of focus and we did it!


As for little Sylvia...she's a drama queen. She would wake up and decide she needed to cry, scream and yell for no apparent reason (the bad dream excuse often happens when she's awake too...it's just her excuse for bad behavior). I also told her she would get a time out if she cried anymore at night for no reason. Last night, I heard her make a little cry and then quickly quieted down. I asked her about it this AM and she said "Mommy, I cried a little bit, but then went right back to sleep."


Success. Life is good at the Romleys. Mommy and Daddy get along so well when the girls are happy and we are rested. Yeah!