For the past 4 years my son's been pretty good about bedtime, occasionally coming out to request a hug or a refill on his water or to announce that he has to use the bathroom, but generally just gets into bed and goes to sleep.

Since this summer he's been up later than his usual bedtime (8:30-9) which I am okay with, but with the caveat that he has to be in his room and not bothering us. Usually he reads or watches videos on YouTube til he gets sleepy, but the last 2 weeks he's been finding new and creative reasons why he just needs to talk to me. Tonight, he's come out every 10 minutes for these reasons;

a) his hair is still wet from his shower and it's making his pillow wet. I stared at him blankly before telling him to put his towel under his head.

b) he remembered that he forgot to brush his teeth and apparently he needed me to know that he brushed them.

c) he folded up a piece of paper into a triangle, then drew an eye and wrote the word 'Illuminati' under it in invisible ink. He was so pleased that he brought it to me and apparently I didn't respond with the gales of laughter that he expected.

Kid. It's now 9:35. Mommy is watching a true crime documentary- you know, the kind that gives you nightmares so I can't watch when you're awake? So why are you still lingering after I repeat my command to get back to your damn room for the third time? Just don't disturb me during the 2 hours I have before I have to go to bed! Is that too much to ask?