You are getting veeeeerrry sleeeepy.....

(This was Noah's idea for his "thinking pose" when I got out my camera!)

I was putting Noah to bed tonight, which is usually Seth's job, but Seth is bartending tonight. Anyway, I got Ella to bed by 7:45 and then Noah taught me a new card game and he had a snack, then bath, then 3 books, which I made him help me read, then a story, hug, and time for my exit. He was so wound up though and squirming and giggling and I thought there was no way he was going to be able to sleep.

I thought back to my grad school psychotherapy days when we practiced visual imagery to help calm patients. I had him lay still and focus on his breathing while I told a very nice, calm, vividly visual story about floating on a raft in warm water, feeling the warm sun, listening to the breeze in the leaves, blah, blah, blah. He was into it and was laying there still with his eyes closed for a minute.

Then his eyes flew open and he hopped up on his knees and said "Now it's my turn.... Lay down take a deep breath in your nose.... that's it..... blow out through your mouth...... yikes! You have some yucky breath Mommy! (he had the same garlic I did for dinner!!) .."imagine that you are walking in the woods and you smell something yucky. You look down and see a big pile of dinosaur dung- that means poop!- on the ground. WATCH OUT!! you don't want to step in it. Suddenly, a huge pack of Allosaurus come running toward you.... RUN!!!!! They are trying to EAT you!!!!!!"

Sigh. So much for relaxation.