How To Get Your 5 yr Old To Sleep At Night

Guess what? Being a parent is awesome, but there are times when your little darlings want NOTHING to do with bed time. Stunner, I know! Some magical things happen at night, and they cannot miss out!  There has to be a reason that adults stay up later right?  Yes, darling... it is called SANITY.

If you are like me, you probably use those precious couple of hours to catch up on all of your to-do's.  Maybe you workout.  Maybe you watch your favorite television show is PEACE for a change (No, sweetie, I have no freaking idea what is going on in this show. Their plane crashed, and someone is kidnapping them, and now they are friends, but not anymore, and someone drowned, and the island is mystical.  SHHHHH!).  Who knows?  But what I do know, is that if I do not get that time to myself, I get really pissy.  So, last weekend while my sister was in town my children were giving me a load of crap about not being able to sleep. They were itchy, they weren't feeling well, they were hot, they were cold, the light wasn't bright enough, the story wasn't long enough, and on and on and on....

So, I said, "I have a magic potion that I can brew that will help put you to sleep and take away the itchies.  Would you like to try it?"  They both got really excited.  So I said... "okay, but you have to give me some time to brew it.  You have to stay in your room or the magic won't work, okay?"  Side note parents: this part got them to stay put in their bed and begin the process of winding down.  One last question was asked before I left, and that was, "What's the potion called momma?"  To which I answered (after about 1 minute), "Placebo".  The ooooooohs that followed made me laugh to myself as I walked back down the hall to the kitchen.  I almost cackled for them.


I put the kettle on, and pulled out a green tea bag.  Placed the tea into a measuring cup and tossed in some loose chamomile flowers. I steeped the tea and the flowers, strained the mixture and added a bit of raw honey. Drank 1/2 a glass of wine (my personal potion heheh).

To make the magical effect even more powerful, I brought a dropper along with me.  A medicine dropper or a small bottle that looks like a potion bottle works well I am sure.  I told them that it was very powerful, and that they must lay down immediately after they've taken the potion, because staying awake too long may cause side effects.

They both nodded earnestly, and opened their mouths, then said, "WAIT!  What about a magic spell?"  CRAP! Now they wanted a spell. LOL.  So I made one up.  Feel free to use it for your kids.

"By Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, potion help me heal my daughters. With a gulp and a swallow, sleep is soon to follow.  No more itchies, no more aches, The sooner to sleep, the sooner to wake."

Yep, I rule!  :)  But seriously, they went to bed and did not get back up till about 7 AM which is late for them.  Mission accomplished.

Disclaimer: always consult your pediatrician before administering honey and chamomile to your children.

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If My Running Shoes Could Talk...

I am not an amazing elite qualifying runner. I am a mom of twins, a wife, and I work 2 businesses and up until June 2014 I also worked a full time job.  But this is not my story. This is the story of my running shoes 2011 - 2013, and what they would say if they could speak.

August 2011
Wow!  Thanks for buying me.  Kohl's is cool and all, but ya know, why be a shoe if no one is gonna stick me on their foot right??

September 2011
There are a lot of people here! And look, it's the little girl, Isabella!  Cool, we're taking the kids to meet her.  Hey, look! It's that dude from the radio station, Chris Wilcox. HI CHRIS!  Whew, I hope we can handle this!  First time running, and you wanna push a double stroller and your husband in his wheelchair?

What are you nuts?  Thank you to that nice lady who helped push one or the other during that run.... and oh great! It is raining.  Oh man!  This is bad.  WOOHOO! You finished!  Hey... are you okay? You look like you're gonna have a stroke!

October - December 2011
Hey, ya know... it's kinda dark in here. I get the feeling you don't remember me.  (Sigh) I thought you were kidding when you said you'd only run for kid's charities and to save your life.  I guess not.

January 2012

Hey spider!  We can be friends.  You can just crawl in here.  Hey, do you have any friends?  Tell them to come on over. We have plenty of room.  Maybe you can take messages to the outside for me.

February 2012
THE LIGHT!! IT BURNS! IT'S TERRIBLE!!  What are you doing to me?  Where are we going. I don't understand.  Your feet are too little to use me properly!  Stop it!  Oh dear God please help me! The kids have me on their feet!

March 2012
I'm here!  Under the bed!  I hear you calling for me!  Please, in here. There are so many toys.  Please, save me....  YES!!!!!!!!  Where are we going?  Oh, sorry about that spider in there... he's been dead a while though.  No need to scream again. No, there isn't anything in this one.  We got lonely okay???

Ahhhh, we're still comfortable right?  Wow! Look at all the Green! And the baked goodies.  Okay, you have those headphones in. This is promising.  Although, maybe you should be wearing some wicking fabric rather than cotton.  Oh well,off we go!  Well, I don't know what you expect? You haven't taken us out in months. You weren't training. Did you think you'd finish in under 30 minutes or something? LOL  Oh hey, someone just crashed through the front of the house!

April 2012 - June 2012
Awesome, Back in the closet again. Wow!  This Disney Place is awesome!  I'm walkin, I'm walking, wooo!  Dammit, back in the closet? REALLY?!?

July 2012
Les Mills PUMP huh?  Okay.  At least I'm out of solitary.

August 2012- October 2012
Hey, you lost a lot of weight!  You should go running now!

YAY!! It's the ISF Run again.  No kids this time huh? Good call.  Oh, I like the sound of that Les Mills COMBAT.  Kicking sounds like fun!

November 2012- March 2013
I like all this jumping and kicking, but I'm starting to feel a little warn out.  I don't know if you want to run in me any more.

April 2013
A 5k huh?  Are you sure? There isn't much support in me anymore.  Okay, but you're gonna regret it!  At least you met a new running buddy ... Jenn is it?  Cool

May 2013  
What is this one called? Hip Hop Abs.  Okay!  Dancing, sounds cool~  And Brazil Butt Lift huh?

June 2013
Wait.. Did you say Vegas???  YESSSSSSSSS!

 Do we get to meet Shaun T?  And Rach and Dan from Combat?  And Joel? And Jericho?? OMG!  This is awesome.  Woo!!  7000 people working out together? This is awesome!

July 2013
Hey, how about that Summit thing.  It's all good, I understand. I'm not supportive enough for running anymore. It's time for you to find better shoes.  Just don't forget me okay? Take me out once in a while.

August 2013-September 2013 Neon Pink and Black Fila's.... meet the beginning of my running hobby.

Saucony is now my shoe of choice, and I am now training for a full marathon with only 1 half under my belt, but I have run half marathon distance many times.  I cannot believe a 5k used to kill me. Anyone can become a runner!