Nighttime Stories: Cat In the Hat Meets Lewis and Clark

It's no big secret that our children are difficult sleepers and that we, as parents have some pretty extravagant nighttime routines to adhere to in order to coddle the children to sleep.  RJ's evening routine is currently:

• Dinner
• Play (if he doesn't dawdle through dinner)
• Clean Up Time
• Bath
• Watch an episode of something while I'm nursing Logan to sleep
• Daddy (usually) reads 1 book
• Daddy makes up a story
• RJ makes up a story
• Hugs and Kisses Goodnight
• Make a tent with his sheet
• He finally lets us leave the room and goes to sleep.  He actually believes that Daddy sleeps right outside his door with Boca, and well, we really haven't done anything to make him believe otherwise because the routine is already too long and we don't want him dragging it out even longer.

I'm not really sure how this whole "making up a story" thing started, because once Logan came around, Lance has almost exclusively handled RJ's nighttime story as I have been busy nursing Logan and otherwise trying to get Logan to sleep.  It is kind of cute and sure beats having to read the same book over and over and over again, like many a preschooler requests.  It's also good that RJ spins tales too.  I like that it's a creative outlet and a way to process the day before bed.

Lance is pretty damned creative in his story telling.  After all, he has to be in order to teach RJ something and meet his demands for a "story about___________ ".

Tonight's story was particularly inventive and carries some themes (although not really the facts) of American History.  To summarize:

The Cat in the Hat lived in London, but he was unhappy because the government didn't let him drink juice or play on Sundays so he, along with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and some others, got on a boat with Christopher Columbus and sailed to America in a big brown wooden boat with sails.  When they got to America, they built houses.  Shortly after, they met Lightning McQueen (because most of the made-up stories HAVE to feature that damned red race car).  Lightning was in cahoots with Lewis and Clark, so they all traveled West in order to make a map of all the mountains and rivers so they knew where to build roads.  Then they all went home and went to bed.  The End.  

When I have to make up the story, I just rehash the day substituting in Lightning and Lightning's little brother "Thunder" for RJ and Logan.  Apparently I need to step up my game when Lance isn't around for bedtime!