Night Time in Our Household

It is 11:15PM and I am the only person/animal that is still awake in our house.  Every other person and animal is sound asleep, dreaming their dreams and slumbering until the alarms of morning go off in about 7 hours.  As I sit here in my bed typing I am thinking of all the different things that take place every night to put our household to bed.

Bedtime starts around 8:15PM when I send Zack upstairs to get ready for bed.  This is never a happy time as he always wants to stay up later.  But I am relatively forceful about this and there are no exceptions to the rule - Zack needs to be upstairs getting ready for bed by 8:15PM.  I will give some leeway on weekends and holidays but that is very distinct exception as opposed to the rule.

When Zackie heads upstairs the puppies Lex and Finnegan head outside for their last potty time time.  Once they come in they are rewarded with a dog biscuit.  Before they can get their biscuit they need to show me they know their "words".  They need to respond to sit, give me paw and lie down before they get there night-night go beddie treat.  As soon as they have devoured their treats they are sent to their separate destinations.  Lex heads upstairs to sleep with Zack and Finn gets to find a couch to fall asleep upon until it is time for me to go to bed.

I then take Lex upstairs and make sure Zack is done getting ready for bed.  Z will then climb into bed and get all comfy under the covers before I tell Lex to "jump up and go night-night".  Lex will then jump up on Zack's bed and attempt to get comfortable.  Unfortunately for Lex, I usually redirect him and make him move so he gets nice and close to Zack.  For Zack having Lex lie close to him is a big deal, so I try and make it happen every night.

Once Lex is in place I will tell Zack that I love him and to have a good night's sleep.  He will respond with similar endearments to me.  After that I turn off the light, walk out of the room and close the door.  If all goes well that is the last I will hear from Zack until 6:30AM the next morning as he usually falls fast asleep very quickly.  Lex does the same thing and I will not hear from him until he realizes it is morning and time for him to get up.

Finnegan on the other hand gets to hang out with me and enjoy some together time with Dad.  After Zack is in bed I will normally go downstairs and watch TV for an hour or two.  At that point, Finnegan gets as close to me as he can and normally curls up in a ball.  He is so utterly cute as he is still so small and he loves to get as close to me as he can.  Unlike Lex he loves to be near people and wants to be as close to me as he can.

Throughout the evening of watching TV I will pet Finnegan and we will almost purr like a kitten when I do so.  Finally, I am done watching TV and it is time for Finnegan to go in his kennel and time for me to go upstairs to bed.  I usually don't have to say much to Finn - it is like he almost anticipates what I am going to do at this point.  As soon as he feels me get up from the couch he will normally spring up and jump off the couch and head right into his kennel.  I think he is very smart in that way in the fact that he understands what he is supposed to do.

Once Finn is in his kennel then it is finally time for me to rest my head.  I'll head upstairs and climb into bed and find a comfortable position.  I normally lie here for a while thinking but then I doze off and fade into sleep for the night.  If I am lucky I will stay sound asleep until 5:00AM or so but recently I have been waking around 3:00AM and then tossing and turning for the rest of the night.

Anyway - that is what typically happens around our house every night!

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

FYSRD!!