isnt' much of a princess these days!! it started a little on vacation. this i'm scared routine at night. but since we have been home going to bed is a complete nightmare! she has often had bad dreams and we have to go in and try to wake her up. they are horrible but happen randomly and then disappear for awhile. now, we just can't get her to go to sleep. the minute i mention going to bed she starts crying, telling me she is scare, and on and on.
so we pray, we pray for good dreams and no scary thoughts. then i go to tuck mapboy in and the crying begins. it has drug out for over 2 hours some nights. i confess, i'm not a patient momma at bedtime. or very compassionate. when it is bedtime it is bedtime around here. part of me thinks she is just using this to keep me coming up, but i think deep inside something has her scared. she visibally shakes and cries huge tears.
last night, i put my foot down. this was enough. we had prayed enough. she screamed - i mean screamed for them to hear her downtown. she ran down the stairs and cried even more. she was spanked several times and sent back to bed. we prayed, and i confess, my prayers aren't overly heartfelt the 7th or 8th time. she lost tv priviledges today and will go to bed early tonight, but i am at a loss
does anyone have any tips out there for dealing with this? school starts here in about 3 1/2 weeks. i need to have this under control so she doesn't go to bed with big puffy eyes. we have talked about Jesus protects her. that mom and dad protect her. we have talked about how to think of good things. we play her church cd's at bedtime. we leave lights on she wants and turns out the lights that cast shadows.
or, is this really a ploy and do i just keep pursuing discipline here. mapboy just reads fora while and goes to bed. princess reads her bible everynight and then still screams. if she really is scared (hubby thinks this real) then what on earth do i do????
so we pray, we pray for good dreams and no scary thoughts. then i go to tuck mapboy in and the crying begins. it has drug out for over 2 hours some nights. i confess, i'm not a patient momma at bedtime. or very compassionate. when it is bedtime it is bedtime around here. part of me thinks she is just using this to keep me coming up, but i think deep inside something has her scared. she visibally shakes and cries huge tears.
last night, i put my foot down. this was enough. we had prayed enough. she screamed - i mean screamed for them to hear her downtown. she ran down the stairs and cried even more. she was spanked several times and sent back to bed. we prayed, and i confess, my prayers aren't overly heartfelt the 7th or 8th time. she lost tv priviledges today and will go to bed early tonight, but i am at a loss
does anyone have any tips out there for dealing with this? school starts here in about 3 1/2 weeks. i need to have this under control so she doesn't go to bed with big puffy eyes. we have talked about Jesus protects her. that mom and dad protect her. we have talked about how to think of good things. we play her church cd's at bedtime. we leave lights on she wants and turns out the lights that cast shadows.
or, is this really a ploy and do i just keep pursuing discipline here. mapboy just reads fora while and goes to bed. princess reads her bible everynight and then still screams. if she really is scared (hubby thinks this real) then what on earth do i do????
Comments
Ok... u asked so I thought I would share with you our story...
Jerod would have bedtime screams and crying... it was just something I thought he went through... seperation anxiety? Mark thought he was being naughty.
Now I think maybe not... because Will also had an experience. He actually pointed to a corner of the room and said "There is the mean dog!" (while cowering behind us and crying)... It was a ceiling corner... the hair stood up on the back of our necks... I wanted to move out! We prayed... and we always had before... but that day I really understood his fear... I had it myself... and We begged God for His protection and told that demon where to go...
Because of that, I would tell you to consider any new exposures she might have had to something yucky and make sure this isn't a spiritual warfare thing... Will had no prior knowledge (at the age of 3-4ish) of anything "demonic" but I really think he saw something that he thought looked like a scary dog (demon). I think Satan used a few inappropriate tv shows and our ignorance to try to slip in... With J. it was stuff that Mark and I were dealing with and satan used that opportunity to play havoc with him...
I wish I had been more protective with J. and not disciplined him over something he couldn't control... (not saying your wrong :) You know your kids and you know what strings they pull... but you also know when something is real.
Jerod still struggles with scary stuff and I have had to guard what movie boxes they see (blockbuster is horrible about yucky stuff) My mom and I are both very sensitive to uncomfortable situations which have proven to be the protection of God making us aware to the wrong stuff. I think that would be discernment?? And I would say that Jerod, Will, and Evan (just ask Wendi for that tale) have the gift too.
Praying for your princess and that our Father will help you to know how to help her... and that
"when she lies down, she would not be afraid: yes, that she would lie down and her sleep be sweet..." Prov 3:24
-dawn
ps... did u get fried at the beach... we did!
we had a blast at the beach yesterday! none of us got too fried, but i have a few odd splotches of redness. guess i'm not so good at applying lotion to my back!
Might also work in a siblings room... but not for us...
We have literally thrown out toys (sometimes those fast food ones are odd) when we felt prompted by the Spirit. For some reason batman stuff really bothers them (though they would never admit it!) With the new movie coming out they have been running lots of ads for it.
I hope others will post a comment too so you can get some additional ideas!
-dawn
We also used sticker charts which work really well. Come up with some great prize and then tell her that every night she goes to bed without a fuss she gets to put a sticker on her "Going to Bed Happy" chart. Decide how many stickers she needs to get to win the prize.
And I still can't believe you start school in 3 weeks. ouch.