Mabel Molanphy

Mabel has had a very spe­cif­ic bed­time rou­tine since she was born – well, prac­ti­cal­ly since she was born. The rou­tine goes as follows: 

1. Announce it’s time for bed.
2. Bath — some­times real­ly short, some­times long.
3. Taco-time (dad­dy wraps her in a tow­el like a taco — when­ev­er he gets to be there).
4. Brush teeth (more like suck tooth­paste from brush).
5. Comb hair (now that she has some).
6. Run around nakey for a lit­tle while while we pre­pare her dia­per and pajamas.
7. She picks her paja­mas (typ­i­cal­ly goes for the lady­bugs or the flowers).
8. Now we get down to busi­ness and wres­tle her into her night gown (a pouch that zips her in like a cocoon). 
9. As soon as she’s in that, she knows play­time is over.
10. She lays on mama’s or dad­dy’s lap on the rock­ing chair — don’t for­get her pur­ple dolly!
11. And her pink dolly. 
12. And bear.
13. And big dol­ly — or oth­er pink dol­ly if they hap­pen to be around. 
14. Scrip­tures (Jesus sto­ries), books, and/or frog­gy sto­ries — as many as she can con us into. 
15. Songs and hymns — again, as many as she can con us into.
16. Prayer — typ­i­cal­ly said by mama or dad­dy, with Mabel inter­ject­ing when­ev­er she feels prompt­ed to. 
17. Hugs and kiss­es while she con­tin­ues futile attempts to get some more sto­ries or songs.
18. Crib — don’t for­get her dol­lies. And her blanket.
19. Finally…bed time. Now she sings to her­self for about 15 min­utes and then she’s out.
20. Mama and dad­dy lay in near-comas wher­ev­er possible.