Storytime for Grownups

The bedtime “ritual” around here is that around 9pm I say “Addy are you sleepy” and she says “yes” and gives kisses goodnight.  I take her into her room, turn on the Sleep Sheep and nightlight and put her in her crib.  She then proceeds to yell and cry for about 25-45 minutes until she goes to sleep.

While she’s in there doing her thing I’m usually just sitting two feet from her crib bored out of my skull.  I can’t play on my phone because she thinks it’s time to watch (Curious) “George” or “Foofa”. On some Go the F to Sleep stuff. All I have to do is say “lay down” and she cries like I ripped her arm off.

So last week I took my phone in there anyway and decided to play my Cool & Calm mix that I am quite proud of (it’s really just a compilation of Norah Jones and Coldplay with like two Ray LaMontagne songs) but she didn’t care.  She just wanted to sing The Wheels on the Bus so that scrapped my music plan and the post “Music Calms the Savage Baby” that I was writing in my head if that tactic had worked.  Whatever.

Sometimes she will demand to go night night.  Laying her head down and grabbing for blankets.  I took her into her room, but this time with the brilliant idea to try a book.  Because I am behind on my GoodReads challenge and I’m not doing anything else so why wouldn’t I be reading?!

But apparently contemporary adult fiction just doesn’t flow well read aloud.  I couldn’t remember the paragraph I read previously.  I couldn’t focus.  Addy was trying  to poke the book with her stuffed kangaroo tail.  I kept telling her to lay down and she called me an “apple” much like you would call an evil woman a “bitch”.

Then I remembered in my pregnancy days I was “nesting” by buying books

I thought every child would need.  This mostly consisted of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and whatever Roald Dahl book I could get my hand on.  I popped up and got The BFG off the bookshelf.

I can’t believe I didn’t fully remember how funny this book is.  I only got through like 3 chapters before I figured I needed to try and turn off the light so Addy could get some sleep.  It didn’t work.  Tomorrow I’ll read that whole damn book if I have to before she falls asleep.  And if need be, I’ll go to Half Price Books and buy all the other Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, and Louis Sachar books they got if I have to.  Anything to get that baby to sleep.

The only real problem I foresee is whose book stamp to put in them.

What other children’s books are MUST HAVES? What were your favorites as a kid?