Magic kisses don't work anymore

[ivylass]

When my kids were little, and they'd come out after bedtime, complaining that they couldn't sleep, I would ask them if they wanted a Magic Kiss.

I would kiss their forehead, cheeks, chin and nose before kissing their lips, then urge them to run off to bed before the magic wore off.

It worked like a charm. We never saw them again until the next morning.

Last night, Ivygirl came out about two hours after bedtime, complaining she couldn't sleep. I asked if she wanted a Magic Kiss.

"Mo-oooom," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "I'm not a baby anymore."

She'll be 13 in May.

At a loss, my magic wand broken, all I could do was tell her to go back to bed and try again.

I guess I need new spells, ones that work on teenagers. But I will miss the Magic Kiss.

[Anaamika]

Give it another ten years, Ivylass. Then she will want the magic kiss again, in nostalgia.

You sound like a good mommy and will be there to give it to her at that point. (Mine wasn't. )
Can I have a magic kiss?

[Madd Maxx]

Do you mean that my "Night-night, don't let the bed bugs bite." is going to go the way of the dodo? Nooooooo...

[QuickSilver]

I dread that day, though I know it'll come too soon for me as well.

However, I'm secretly hoping that if I stop trying to make them eat their veggies then they will never grow up and I'll never have to be faced with that problem.

Ya think?

[Kythereia]

Can I also have a magic kiss?

[ivylass]

Anaamika and Kytheria:

*smooch smooch smooch smooch smooch smooch...now run off to bed, quick quick quick!*

Unfortunately, QuickSilver, it's going to happen whether you like it or not.

I remember my BIL giving me a gimlet look when I gave Ivygirl the Magic Kiss a few years ago. I loftily said, "She's 8 and it works. Hush."

Little did I know, the spell's days were numbered. I must have annoyed the Parent Gods at that point.

Treasure the little things you can put over on your children. It doesn't last long at all. Time really flies when you're a parent.

[Kythereia]

*scurries off to bed*

[Zebra]

I couldn't sleep last night either. Even though all the stuff I was worring about all weekend turn out OK just before I went to bed, I couldn't get to sleep.

[Anaamika]

I can't go to bed, I'm at work!

*crawls under desk*

[CandidGamera]

Please note that though I had the opportunity to make some off-color innuendo here, I refrained.

[Anaamika]

Originally Posted by CandidGamera

Please note that though I had the opportunity to make some off-color innuendo here, I refrained.

I assume about me crawling under the desk.

Don't worry, it already went through my head. Good to know someone else's mind is as much in the gutter as mine.

[Doctor Jackson]

At 13 years old the Magic Kiss must be temporarily replaced by something more powerful. Whack 'em upside the head with the Magic Brick and, voila!, out for a good 8 hours. The good news is that, in time, another (albeit different) Magic Kiss will help ensure a good night's sleep. I don't want it delivered by my mother, though. Oedipus I ain't.

[CandidGamera]

Originally Posted by Anaamika

I assume about me crawling under the desk.

Don't worry, it already went through my head. Good to know someone else's mind is as much in the gutter as mine.

No, just you gals asking for magic kisses from ivylass.. *ahem*

Back in my childhood years, the sleeping aid of choice was the humble nightlight.

[D_Odds]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jackson

At 13 years old the Magic Kiss must be temporarily replaced by something more powerful. Whack 'em upside the head with the Magic Brick and, voila!, out for a good 8 hours.

I second this approach, although I prefer the magic cricket bat, which can also be employed to kick start homework- and chore-avoiding tweens and teens.

[Anaamika]

Originally Posted by CandidGamera

No, just you gals asking for magic kisses from ivylass.. *ahem*

Back in my childhood years, the sleeping aid of choice was the humble nightlight.

Nonon, a stuffed moose. Only the stuffed moose, however.

In my teen years it was a HUGE stuffed bear.

And these days, other than my SO, it's a Baby Gund elephant.

[ShibbOleth]

Thirteen years isn't a bad run, especially these days. Both mine still jump up and down in excitement whenever I get home. I've wondered lately how long that will last. Someone said, a few years back, that it wouldn't last past five or six, and we're well past that, so everything else is just gravy.

[ivylass]

Fortunately, another bedtime ritual has not lost its effectiveness. I think because it appeals to Ivygirl's girly side.

In a fraightfully naice society snobby voice, we say in unison, "Smooooches!" Then air-kiss each other's cheeks. Then, again in unison it's "Dahhhling! Let's do lunch! Have your people call mah people." Then she flounces off to bed.

I wonder how long that one will last.