Pastors

Georgia dreaded the tumult of her children's bedtime. Bedtime meant an hour of wrestling fighting, complaining, and stalling. As a single parent working full time, Georgia felt increasingly overwhelmed.

Maybe tonight will be different, she thought. Lori will be here.

Lori, Georgia's parenting coach, had listened to Georgia's bedtime horror stories and offered to observe a typical bedtime and give advice on how to improve the situation.

When the children were finally settled in bed, Georgia and Lori sat down to talk.

"See what I mean?" said Georgia. "By the time I'm done with this, I just want to collapse. I never have time to just relax and think."

"Maybe we can think of ways to restructure the bedtime routine," said Lori. The two women spent twenty minutes brainstorming ways to smooth the transition to bed. They considered turning the television off an hour before bedtime and spending that time reading to the children and playing quiet music. They considered the value of talking to the children ...

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