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NOVEMBER 25, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Life C ach
Nighty Night By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS
P
utting a kid to sleep? Famous last thought. You climb into bed with them, hoping beyond hope it will be a short stint. And nine times out of 10 it winds up being them putting you to sleep! How exactly does that happen?
Well, first they get you to tell them a story. You talk and talk and talk, and they remain wide awake just waiting for more. Clearly, they have nowhere to go. You literally drain your brain of all energy just to come up with an interesting enough storyline to keep them involved.
Then you go for the surprise ending…except that the only one surprised is you, as your mate rocks you awake and asks if you want to help him re-round up the kids for bed! Other times, you wind up listening to some insane non-sequiturs. And you’re thinking, “Who is rambling on in that unintelligible language?” But then you realize your kids are giggling away. And as you
ly blessed among us. After all, how many people have a kid who goes off to sleep just for the asking? That’s what you’d call a “dream come true,” but more realistically, most bedtimes are a “nightmare!” If you’ve never been party to this experience, trust me, it’s no party! But, embrace it anyway, if you can, because one day, they just won’t need you anymore. And then, as
That’s what you’d call a “dream come true,” but more realistically, most bedtimes are a “nightmare!”
start actually tuning in more, you notice that the voice sharing the wacky tale is yours. Exhaustion has overtaken you, and you have become a sleep talker! Sure, you could go a different route and grab an actual book and read them a story from there. But you need to recognize that this means you’ll need to keep a light burning. Which raises the concern that if it’s so hard to get a kid to sleep in the dark, good luck seeing them nod off with the spotlight. Then again, you could just send them off to bed on their own. Of course, that obviously means you’re either delusional or one of the tru-
happy as this may make you, there certainly is something bittersweet about it. So nighty night, wherever you are. And however, you are going off to sleep, sweet dreams!
Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples and individuals and is a certified relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or at rivkirosenwald@ gmail.com.
