Just started reading The Wizard of Oz. I'm not sure he's hooked yet, but the first chapter is a little slow, and the cyclone isn't all that vivid.

Repeating Kindergarten
 

My son is right on the cut-off, such that we could have pushed him along so he'd be the youngest in his K class, but instead we waited a year -- despite some mild disapproval from some quarters -- such that he's one of the oldest in his class. We don't regret our decision to "hold him back" at all. He is so confident about school, both academically and socially. For him, sports are very important, and his age -- if not his innate athletic ability, since our genes weren't helping him there -- has been a big boost in that department.

Some parents in our neighborhood made the opposite decision only -- a year later -- to have their kids repeat K. The ones we know don't seem to regret this at all. There's no stigma that I can detect. One parent we know has refused to do this, notwithstanding that she always worries that her kid is one of the smallest and youngest, and I frankly think her kid would be doing better in K again this year.

So, FWIW, I wouldn't take it hard at all.

Big girl bed
 

In my role as "fun aunt" (actually "fun extended family" but let's not complicate things), I have been asked to talk to a little one (about 2 and a half) about the benefits of the Big Girl Bed. Her four month old brother is rapidly outgrowing the bassinette and needs the crib.

The little one likes me quite a bit, and she spent an entire afternoon at a party recently following me around. Her mom says she asks about me a lot too. I'm going over for dinner, to see the local Church's nativity animals, and of course, for the Intervention, on Wednesday.

Initital attempts by the parents to convince the big sister that the Big Girl Bed is infinitely better than a crib have failed. Any advice? Am I going to have to sleep in the Big Girl Bed?

I've been told also that there's a very good chance that I'll get a "Good job!" for pee peeing in the potty.

Repeating Kindergarten
 

Boy, you must have piles and piles of money. Sweet.

Big girl bed
 

Whatever you do, don't say "you will be able to get out of your bed and try to climb into your parents' any time you want!!"

Repeating Kindergarten
 

And they'd let you use the bathrooms that way.

Big girl bed
 

When we made this switch, we had serious concerns about finding enough space in the crib for a child amidst all the stuff animals. So a subtle way to force the issue is to increase the crib's population. Ikea has stuffed animals with a favorable mass/cost ratio relative to most places.

Big girl bed
 

You aren't going to be able to pull this off. Mom and/or Dad are going to have to start taking her to bed in the BGB at a set time every night and reading to her for a while to relax her, then lying down with her until she falls asleep. They will also want to set up a "nest" with pillows and blankets on the flooor or a sofa in their room for when she wakes up in the middle of the night.

You sleeping in the BGB for the first night may be a treat that helps her get started, but this is a process that will take time.

Big girl bed
 

Sucker. We rued that for years.

Big girl bed
 

I would borrow Ty's extra stuffed animals and create a fort.

Big girl bed
 

Mine is still in her crib ... at least until she wakes in the middle of the night and calls for me (a recent development, after 18 months of sleeping perfection). With her in the crib, I have no worries from 8 until sometime between 11:30 and 4:30.

I hesitate to type that for fear that tonight she learns how to get over that rail.

Big girl bed
 

With enough stuffed animals, she can make a ramp to get over the rail and toss some out for a cushion to land on.

Big girl bed
 

Make sure that you get rails for the bed - the first night we tried to put our kid in the bed, without rails, she had an absolute fit. She would not go into the bed unless I was there, too. (I stayed until she fell asleep, then left. I went back after she rolled out of it...) So, the rails keep her in the bed, plus, she likes the idea of the rails because they remind her of the crib. We also had to play all sorts of games to get her in there the first couple of nights, with my wife making up names for the bed - with rails, it was not a bed, but a bed/crib (a "bebby!").

We were surprised at how adamant she was about not sleeping in the bed. We took her with us to pick it out, and talked about it forever, because it took months to arrive after we ordered it. She liked the idea, and told other people that she'd sleep in a big girl bed. But when the bed showed up, she was terrified.

Big girl bed
 

Last year, about this time, the Brazenette came home from school and ran right to her bedroom. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me she had to go check to see if the Big Girl Bed Fairy had delivered her bed.

Sadly, she had not.

This repeated for several days, until I got the hint and bought a big girl bed.

She was apoplectic when she discovered the Big Girl Bed Fairy had finally made a delivery.

(The hot pink headboard probably helped.)

Big girl bed
 

Surely there are some toys besides auntie that will only fit in the big girl bed.

Have you thought about a bed-related craft project, to make the bed hers? Stars on the ceiling/wall hearby, art on the headboard, something else that lays claim to the territory?