[day 42 ... february 11]

Every evening after Cory's in bed, Niall and I spend 10-15 minutes having "special playtime." We started this routine several years ago, and now it's an immutable part of our pre-bedtime routine.

Usually we play card games like Cribbage, Crazy Eights or Double War, or board games like Sorry or Guess Who?, but sometimes we play Legos or draw pictures. Once in awhile, we'll watch part of a movie but that doesn't help us wind down to sleepytime so is an infrequent exception.

Niall enjoys this time so much, and I'm always glad to eek out some 1:1 time with each of my kids. Cory already has a nice, long bedtime routine but is now clamoring for his own "special playtime" in addition! He's right - it's probably time to see how to squeeze that in. Hopefully without extending the total time, because this mommy already spends upwards of 2.5 hours getting two little people ready and tucked into every night!