Helpful Mom

My kids aren’t always tired when it’s time for bed.  A friend of mine suggested that they have their kids listen to Adventure in Odessey on the radio at bedtime.  We have embraced this idea and it works fairly well for us.  We got the girls CD players for their rooms and a few CDs that they love to listen to again and again.  Telling them to lay down and listen to the songs or stories til they are done is usually enough to get them to relax in bed and by the time it’s finished they have fallen asleep.  It’s not without it’s cons.  We have to drag the CD players on vacation with us cause it’s tradition, but tradition does help make a strange place more homey.  And of course some nights getting them to pick which CD they want can be frustrating.  But over all the benefits out weigh the cons.

And to keep the stories and songs fresh, we borrow books on tape or CD from the library.  They also have large selections of songs for kids.  My girls are currently loving a book with CD of American Folk Songs, they have to take turns each night trading it back and forth.  Or you can download podcasts of Adventures in Odessey from Focus on the Family and burn them onto CDs.