bedtime...i'm gonna miss this

Anyone who knows my situation knows that I have to do the bedtime routine alone five nights per week (seven nights if it's soccer season). I am not a complainer, I can pretty much handle anything, but there are some nights that are such a challenge that even I have to scream a little. Tonight has been one of those nights. Here's a play-by-play of how the night has gone thus far...

5:45 p.m.: After an early dinner (because Camryn didn't nap much today and Em decided not to nap at all) I headed up with all three for the baths. I typically give Connor and Em a bath together while Camryn sits in the bathroom in her bouncy seat; however, because of Connor's virus, I have been bathing them seperately. So I gave Em a bath first, it went fine. Filled the tub, put Connor in and got Em dressed. Camryn in the meantime was pretty fussy in her chair, but no big deal. Got Em dressed. At some point, Camryn spit up all over herself and I didn't see it right away, so she had both hands in her mouth and thus spit-up all over her hands and face, including eyes. So I cleaned her up, got her dressed and put her in her crib to play with one of those hanging toy bars so that I could go wash Connor. She was okay for about 3 minutes and then cried until I was done. Em just ran around like a maniac upstairs during all of this. At one point, she did try to sneak into the tub with Connor, with her jammies on...but I caught her just in time. So I got Connor out, he got dressed and we all headed downstairs.

6:30 p.m.: We made it downstairs just in time for a new episode of Speedracer. Got the girls their bottles (yes Em still has a bottle of milk before bed). I fed Camryn, Em drank her milk and Connor watched Speedracer with a Gatorade popsicle (his new favorite treat since being sick).

7 p.m.: Headed up to bed with Camryn and Em. I got Camryn to sleep fairly quickly because Em was pretty quiet tonight. This is usually the biggest challenge because while I rock Camryn, Em usually dances, sings, jumps and runs around Camryn's room. So, I guess I should be thankful that this part went well.

7:15 p.m.: Camryn was asleep. I headed into Em's room with her, we read, rocked and she was asleep by 7:30. I went downstairs to get Connor.

7:45 p.m.: As Connor and I were reaching the top of the steps, I heard Camryn crying. She's awake, crying and not settling down so I took her into Connor's room so that I could get his routine finished and get him to bed. She made it difficult to read books, brush teeth, etc. but we got through it.

8:15 p.m.: Connor got in bed and I told him I'd be back to lay with him as usual (our little one on one time). I took Camryn back to her room.

8:30 p.m.: Camryn is asleep for the second time. I left her room, got halfway down the stairs and what do I hear? Yep, Em. She's crying "Mommy!", so I go in there, take her out of her crib, stand there rocking her, put her back in. She usually doesn't want me to leave the room so I lay on the floor until I know she's asleep, but she was asleep...thank goodness. I left her room and went to Connor's room to lay with him for a few minutes.

8:45 p.m.: Got downstairs.

8:47 p.m.: Camryn is awake and fussing again. Just as the fussing was turning into crying, I went back in, gave her a pacifier and sat on her floor for a few minutes to make sure she was settled. I had to give her the pacifier a few times until she fell asleep.

9:00 p.m.: I'm downstairs again...everything is quiet. I started cleaning up the toys all over the place and the kitchen, the two big jobs usually left for this time of night. I was frustrated that the whole routine took me over 3 hours. Think about it...3 hours! That's a huge chunk of time just for bath and bedtime.

Anytime I start to get a little frustrated though over things like this, I realize that this isn't going to last forever. I have three little kids. It comes with the territory. I signed up for it and I couldn't be happier.

It's during these times that I always think of Trace Adkins song, "You're Gonna Miss This". I always sing the chorus in my head...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

If you're a parent and you haven't heard it, definitely listen to it. It will give you perspective on all of the little challenges you face and will face with your children. We don't get the time back and we don't get to do it again. We have to make the most of every moment, even the frustrating ones.