it's sleepy time, right?

I have a feeling that tonight might be a rough night. I've decided that I finally need to crack down on Truett's sleeping habits, or non-sleeping habits. He struggles to stay in his bed. And when he does manage to stay in his bed, he is yelling for us on a consistent basis for about an hour after we've laid him down. It might be to tell us that he needs to use the potty, even though he went right before bed. Or it could be that his water cup is empty or his blanket isn't covering his feet. Last night he needed a band-aid on a scratch that had already scabbed over. That was the first time. The second time he told Sam that his pillow was too itchy. Last week he called me up because he couldn't get his zip-up pajamas back on. He had taken them off to scratch his back. He will wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me that his nose is dry or scream down during nap time to ask me if I will wake him up before it gets dark.
It is constant and unpleasant. And every time he yells we go into his room because we don't want him to wake up the other two. But it has to end and tonight is the start. Ugh. This is going to be bad. But it is my own fault and now I have to deal with it. Bedtime issues are the worst! I completely understand how parents end up sleeping in their childrens' beds instead of their own. By the time the day is done, all you want is a little time to relax and unwind before you go to bed and get up to start the next day. Fighting with a preschooler at 9:30pm is not a good way to relax and unwind and the easy way out looks so tempting and, well, easy. We never actually progressed to sleeping in their rooms or beds but we still managed to get ourselves into this predicament. It's a slippery slope and it is going to be a hard climb back to the top. I'm tired already. :(

photo from:  parentingscience.com