God Bless the Librarian

I love our school librarian. I told Doris about my Jonah's bedtime woes and she came to me about an hour later, with a couple of books she'd picked out and signed out to me. She had said to me that maybe part of the reason for Jonah's reaction could be that he is genuinely scared when he goes to bed, and maybe part of it is that he feels like he's not as important to me as he wants to be. I was totally choked to hear that, because of course I love him with all I have, but she could be onto something. Most waking hours in the day are spent getting things done: getting breakfast made, getting ready for the day, getting out the door, getting my stuff together at the end of the school day, doing some photocopying, getting out to the car again, making dinner, eating, showering, and bedtime routines. Where in there do we find time for fun? The answer is weekends. And that's not okay. I mean it's not like we have no time together during the week; we play for a few minutes here and there, and cuddle up together on the couch to read together before bed, and most nights we end up in the same bed together. With the exception of school hours, we are physically attached, but not interacting the way he'd like. So maybe she is onto something. These are the books she gave me:

Both are written by Todd Snow, and basically follow the format, "You are brave when you..." and "You are important because..." They are simple but good and Jonah gets it, even can understand what it means that he is important (a tough concept for a three-year-old).

This next book, though, this is the treasure, and if you know any little guys who don't like to be away from their parents, it is awesome. Basically, it's about a little raccoon, who is afraid to start school and be away from the things he knows (including his mom). So his mom kisses the palm of his hand and tells him whenever he needs his mom's love, he can put it to his cheek and think, "Mommy loves you. Mommy loves you." We read the book and then I kissed Jonah's hand and he put it up to his cheek and I said, "Can you hear it?"

And he said, "It says, 'I love you.'"

"And who is saying that?"

"You," he says.

We had a really good bedtime. A couple of times I thought he was going to start fussing, but then I told him how great he was doing, and he'd stop and we did a quiet, lovely bedtime. Tucked him in, and not a peep. No tears, no excuses. If you have a young 'un who resists being put to bed, this is the book for you.