The latest tide of bedtime madness had ebbed some in recent weeks.  Molly basically moved, voluntarily, into the guest room, where she set up camp on the floor.  She has blankets and pillows surrounded by books, magazines, and a little sketch pad.  She quietly puts these to use while staying up until about 10:00 or 10:30 every night.  At least Kit and I can get something done around here after 8:30 now.  And Molly may realize she just can’t handle being in the room with Claire at bedtime without causing trouble.  She is just not tired enough to go to sleep at 8:30 or 9:00, even though she gets up at 6:30 every morning.  The two-hour nap at school doesn’t help matters.

Claire missed having Molly in the room the last few weeks and would try to convince her to come back for another try, but Molly has decided she belongs in the guest room for now.  Claire has gotten over being scared and gets to sleep quickly by 8:30 or 9:00.  So basically, Molly is awake up to two hours past her older sister.  There is just no good way to deal with that.

So last night Molly sheepishly said she wanted to try sleeping in the room with Claire again.  We all said “great!” and moved Molly’s stuff back into her bedroom with Claire.  All was quiet for the fist 30 minutes.  Then Molly was in Claire’s bed talking quietly with her.  I was afraid Molly would keep Claire up (as she is like to do), but Claire said she would tell Molly when she wanted to go to sleep.  Seriously, Claire needs her sleep.  I talked to Kit, and we decided to relax and let them be and maybe it would be fine.  I went for a run.

When I got back 30 minutes later, Kit said things had gone badly.  Molly had grabbed all of Claire’s stuffed animals and thrown them across the room.  She had taken Claire’s iPod Shuffle and wouldn’t give it back.  There was crying and screaming.  Molly was back in the guest room with all her stuff.  Claire was deep asleep by herself in her room.

Claire just wants someone to sleep in the room with her, maybe a little chit chat before bed.  Molly just wants to not sleep and, further, to keep Claire awake.  She has actually told us that is her intention.  It’s back to the guest room for Molly tonight, like it or not.