My mean little trick

So, if I hadn't done so already, I have officially crossed the line and become a mean mom.

The last three months it has been really difficult to get McKenzie to stay in bed at night. We read stories, give big hugs and cuddles and anything else we can think of to anticipate her needs before we tuck her in. Somehow, though, she comes out with a million different requests: "I need to hug my daddy again. My nightlight is too bright. I need a different cup of water. I need to potty for the 100th time in the last hour." You get the picture. It had gotten to the point where Cris and I are both losing our temper and night times were not looked forward too.


So, the other day when McKenzie and I were taking down Halloween decorations, I was a little desperate, and used a little creativity. When I started packing up our scary rat, McKenzie stayed far away and kept telling me how frightening it was. There were no tears or anything, but she was definitely wary.


While we worked, I told McKenzie that the rat watched for naughty girls who didn't go to bed like they were supposed to. She asked a bunch of questions and somehow decided that the rat would eat her bellybutton if she didn't stay in her bed. Everytime she walked by the box of decorations, she would cover her stomach, walk far away from the box as possible, and say "Rat, I go to sleep good."

So, being the mean mom that I am, when night time rolled around, I pulled out Mr. Rat and totally took advantage of the situation. I told McKenzie that he would never go into her room, but would wait for her to sneak out when she was naughty. I tried to explain that it was okay to get up and go potty if she really needed to, but he knew if a little girl tried to lie or not. On our way to her bedroom, I sat Mr. Rat in the hallway. McKenzie climbed right into her bed, and after stories and kisses and hugs, rolled over and went right to sleep. That was Monday. We have not had a single sneak out or even a single tear at nap time or bed time since Mr. Rat has been on patrol. It may be evil, but you know what? The peaceful evenings make it SO worth it! :)