Bedtime is hard. And it seems to just get harder.

My son is 3 1/2 and he knows everything. He is also an expert deal maker and very stubborn (wonder who he got that from?).

Well, here’s what I aim to do about it: treat him with respect. Well, I also want to treat me with respect too… and, I know that he just won’t agree with that. At least not all of the time. But, I have to for two reasons:

1. I am going insane because I am not asking for the respect I need in all my relationships, not just with him.
2. He needs me to model self-respect so he can practice it too.

I am challenged by this and need to give more thought to how I will walk the self-respect road (which also means I will be working with Boundaries). Oh boy.

So, in this quest I am on the lookout for tools and inspirations to help instill a calmer transition to bedtime. Ones that will help us wind down together. Ones that support a bonding experience where we are both engaged in a peaceful activity with creative elements.

Today I came across one such tool in the form of a beautiful little iPad and iPhone app by shape-minds.com called Nighty Night! HD.

This story will be a wonderful tool for the wind-down period before bed. It is beautiful, peaceful, and simple. A very friendly narrator introduces and closes the real feature of this app: kids get to put the animals to bed! First they can play around with each animal by touching them.

I haven’t had a chance to show it wil my son yet. I will report back with his review, but I found it to be a lovely work.

I can see the potential for a custom expereince. Here are just a few ideas:

1. CREATE A TUNE by playing around with the little sounds that are produced when you touch the three fish swimming around in their pond before you put them to sleep. (I had a lot of fun with this when I played with it.)
2. A STORY WITHIN A STORY: You can give the animals names and make up a story about how their day went at school or whatever topic is on your child’s mind.

I recommend letting children play with this book in their own way at first, then, one-by-one, introduce ideas like the above. This gives kids the opportunity to really grow with this book (or any other book or toy) and to discover the multifaceted goodness that is there just waiting to be discovered.

I can’t wait to give Nighty Night! to my son tonight. I will bring it during our bedtime routine and present it right after bath and before we read books (the old-school paper kind).

Enjoy!