Parented!!!

I must share a moderately monumentous occurrence from tonight. All my kids were asleep within 30 minutes of bed time and did not get out of bed once! Back story: if you are a longtime follower of 'here we go', you know I have bragged in the past about my babies wonderful sleep habits. Well then they got big kid beds and became toddlers and preschoolers and still shared a room and the night time routine became a nightmare. We'll not all of it. Bathtime, jammis, brush teeth, story time, lullabyes were fine ( especially story time). But approximately 30 to 60 seconds after we leave their bedroom starts the unending barrage of " tuck me in", " I need a book". " my blankets don't work", " I have a cough cough , "etc. this is the WORST hour, two hours, plus. Mainly because we parents are fried. Once in awhile they'll be so exhausted and it's not as bad but usually it's incredibly frustrating for every one. Tonight on my way home I had an idea. This idea only occurred to me ( and should have occurred a lot sooner) because my job is to work with kids who are having difficult behaviors and one almost universal strategy is rewarding appropriate behavior. This is based on the teachings of skinner and his ideas of operant conditioning........kids like stickers!!! Of course! So I made a quick sticker chart for bedtime. You get a sticker for staying in bed 1 min, then 5 min, 10 min, 15, 30. They were all asleep by the 15 minute stickers!!! Even Lucy! I have no idea if this will work again but even a one night reprieve is restoring my faith in this whole parenting thing. Good night !