Parenting: Love & Logic Week 2

I'm taking a Parenting: Love & Logic class and last night we learned how to make bed time easier. Well, I decided to start my homework last night. One among the many struggles I have with my kids is bed time. I can't ever keep my kids in their beds let alone their bedrooms. So one of the Dr.’s that teach the class gave a prime example and he made the comment that there are very few people who can go to bed on command. So when I tell them “ok, its bed time, lay down and go to sleep” and then the many times to follow telling them to be quiet they are to be asleep” is not the best approach with children when it comes to bed. So his suggestion was to give them OPTIONS! He told his kids (which were school age) that it was time for bed but they could play with whatever they liked just as long as they STAYED IN THEIR ROOM. If they came out of their room the deal was off. So I kind of took my own perspective as to what he said and decided to try something. So Monday night I put it to the test. I gave them their toys, books, cars, etc. told them I didn't want to see them out of their rooms but could play as long as they liked but they would be getting up at 7am w/Daddy. Natalie didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm, Corbin shortly before. Natalie did very well. She stayed in her room, Corbin however got up several times. I juts threatened to take away his cars and books. NOW when morning time comes Corbin is ALWAYS our alarm clock. He is 95% of the time awake by 6:30am. When morning came I wasn't sure what I was going to do and sure enough Corbin was up by 6am and climbed in bed with us. So I woke up with Daniel got him off to work and Corbin woke up shortly before Daniel left for work. I let Natalie sleep a little longer but when Daniel was out the door I woke her up. Sure enough throughout the whole day they were both very tired and cranky. I dealt with several melt downs and Corbin wanting to be babied all day (didn't tolerate that a whole lot especially when I am watching two other kids 7months and 2 years). So as we were starting to put pajamas on I gave them a rundown of how tonight was going to go. They tried to go off course but we reminded them of our previous conversation. Teeth, books, family prayer, then room. All day Corbin was rubbing his eyes. So by 9pm I went up to check on them and Corbin was of course sound asleep and Natalie was still reading in her room. The next day is library day (they get to go to the local library and have story time then craft time then get to choose out some books to take home) so they have to get up early. So I have done my homework for the week and it seems to be going off very well especially with a little girl who is the one who is the problem at bed times.
So I wrote this a few days after my 2nd class. Both kids are still trying to understand that they need to stay in their room and NOT come out but at least we have made progress with bed time. However it is still a minor work in progress.