Season 1, episode 17
Life with a toddler can be fun and difficult. That is why routines are so important. When Lily doesn’t take her nap, the rest of the day is rough for her dad, Stephen. Perhaps a nighttime routine with soothing songs will be exactly what they both need to sleep.
This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words “sleep”, “throws”, “sings”, “reads”, and “doesn’t”.
TIME FOR BED
There is a girl named Lily. Lily is two years old. She has green eyes and brown hair. Lily is precious. She only has one problem – she has a lot of energy. Lily is super energetic. She is moving all the time.
Lily spends a lot of time with her dad Stephen. Stephen loves his daughter a lot. They look a lot alike. They both have green eyes and brown hair. But Stephen is different because he has a mustache and he doesn’t have as much energy as Lily.
Lily’s mom is named Carol. Carol has brown eyes and blonde hair. Carol and Lily don’t have similar colors of eyes or hair, but Lily’s facial structure is similar to Carol’s facial structure.
Carol works in an office. She has a good job and she likes her work. So Carol goes to work and Stephen stays home and takes care of Lily. All day Stephen plays with Lily, reads books to Lily, and prepares food for Lily.
Sometimes days with Lily are perfect. They play with blocks. They read books. They watch “Bluey” on TV. They eat breakfast and lunch. They take a nap. They prepare dinner for Carol at the end of the day. These days are perfect
Other days are not so perfect. Sometimes Lily doesn’t like her food. She cries and yells and throws the food. Sometimes Lily only wants to explore and she throws books and objects throughout the house. Sometimes Lily doesn’t want to take a nap in the afternoon, so she is in a bad mood the rest of the day. These days are very difficult.
Today is one of these difficult days. It is an especially difficult day because Carol has to work late. First, Lily doesn’t want to eat her cereal. She throws her cereal on the floor. Then, while Stephen is cleaning the cereal off the flower, Lily destroys the living room. She throws all her toys on the floor. She throws all the books on the floor.
When it is time to take a nap, Lily doesn’t want to sleep. Stephen rocks Lily, but she doesn’t want to sleep. Stephen sings to Lily, but she doesn’t want to sleep. Stephen reads calm books to Lily, but she doesn’t want to sleep. Stephen wants to take a nap, but Lily doesn’t want to take a nap.
The whole day is difficult with Lily because she doesn’t take a nap. She is in a bad mood the rest of the day. She doesn’t want to play with Stephen. She doesn’t want to read with Stephen. She doesn’t want to eat her food.
Finally, it is 7:30 (seven thirty) at night. At 7:30 at night, Stephen starts the bedtime routine. Every night Lily has the same routine before bed. Carol typically helps with the routine, but she isn’t there because she is working.
At 7:30, Stephen prepares a bath for Lily. Lily takes a bath every night. A bath calms kids and prepares them to sleep better. Stephen checks the water temperature because it is important to have the perfect temperature.
Stephen puts soap for babies in the water. The soap makes bubbles. Stephen puts Lily in the bath. She sees the bubbles and is happy. Lily likes bubbles a lot. She plays in the bubbles.
While Lily plays in the bath bubbles, Stephen washes her. He washes her feet because she runs in the house all day. He washes her toes and sings:
One, two, three little toes; four, five, six little toes; seven, eight, nine little toes; you have ten little toes.
Lily laughs and splashes in the water. Stephen is happy because Lily is not in a bad mood now, she is in a good mood. Stephen washes Lily’s legs and stomach. He washes her arms and her little hands. When Stephen washes Lily’s fingers, he sings her another song.
Daddy finger, daddy finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?
Mommy finger, mommy finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?
Brother finger, brother finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?
Sister finger, sister finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?
Baby finger, baby finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?
Lily laughs. She likes it when her dad sings to her. Lily doesn’t like it when her dad washes her hair. She doesn’t like to have water in her eyes. So Stephen keeps singing while he washes Lily’s hair.
Baby shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Baby shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Baby shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo, baby shark. Daddy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Daddy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Daddy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo, daddy shark.
Stephen puts water on Lily’s head, but she doesn’t cry. She sings with Stephen. “Mommy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Mommy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo. Mommy shark, doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo, mommy shark.”
Lily plays in the water a little more. Stephen is exhausted, but Lily still has a lot of energy. How is it possible? It’s time to sleep!
After the bath, Stephen puts a diaper on Lily and dresses her in her pijamas. Lily still has a lot of energy, but it is time to sleep. She needs to be calm to sleep. So Stephen sits with Lily. He selects a calm book and reads to Lily. He reads the book Good Night, Moon. It is the perfect book for bedtime, but Lily doesn’t want to sleep.
Stephen decides to rock Lily. The act of rocking calms kids and prepares them to sleep. Stephen rocks Lily and sings to her, “Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep now my baby.”
Lily smiles at Stephen. She doesn’t move much. It looks like she is going to sleep! Stephen keeps rocking and singing. “Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky.”
When Carol arrives home from work, everything is calm. She goes to Lily’s room and sees her husband and daughter in the chair, completely asleep.
The End.
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