So it’s been interesting putting Andrew to bed lately. Experiences have ranged from incessant screaming – usually as a result of falling asleep in the car and being rudely awakened upon getting home – to a general displeasure with the notion of being left alone to go to bed, to being quite accommodating and laying down when asked.

Being the male parental unit, I have the natural (dis)pleasure of having no natural maternal instinct with which to justify my actions and decisions. Which is a long way of saying that the Mrs. does most of the intricate caretaking, which seems to include bedtime.

But for whatever reason, the little man has been giving Mommy a hard time of late in matters of nocturnal slumber – while I seem to get his best behaviour, which includes laying down upon command and remaining generally content until Sleep finally comes knocking.

Mommy shouldn’t take it personally. Kids can be fickle, especially at the tender age of Almost-2.

But the little guy definitely had me on pins and needles this evening, as he seemed reluctant to lay his head on his little pillow despite my fervent requests. This evening he had elected to be partial to a toy airplane that Mommy had brought home a few weeks ago, and in an effort to keep the boat stable we tend to let him hold on to his favoured toy after bathing and just before bedtime. Normally he’s fine giving it up just before he goes in the crib, but tonight the signals seemed muted.

So there we were – me with blanket in hand and he sitting in the crib with plane held high. “Oh no” I thought; “He won’t be so cooperative tonight”. And for what seemed like an eternity, there he sat, plane held high, with me holding his blanket waiting for him to lay down so I could cover him.

Then my heart leapt into my throat as he stood up; surely this was the beginning of an hour-long protest. My ability to bid him a happy goodnight had apparently waned.

And then, he raised the plane even higher and moved it convincingly in my direction. And finally I understood – it was bedtime Daddy, not playtime. The plane had no business being in bed with him, and he wanted me to take it. And I having done as he wanted, he immediately lay down to begin his customary soft soliloquy, culminating 20 minutes later – as usual – with Sleep.

Thanks son 🙂