What are your five tips & tricks for getting your kids to bed on time and getting them to stay in bed?

As a parent, you know how difficult it can be to get your child to go to bed at night and stay in bed all night - especially during the exciting holiday times! We would love to hear from you. What are your five tips & tricks for getting your kids to bed on time and getting them to stay in bed? Do you have special routines or rituals? Any tricks on getting kids to slow down and become sleepy? What do you do if they wander out of bed during the night? What works for your family?"

1. We start out early in the morning to go over grandma's house where the family visits on Christmas eve. Breakfast is such a delight with fruit and scones with maple syrup.

2. Kids usually take the snow day and start making snow men. With a little imagination we build a family and dress them all up. Dad, Mom, Brother and Sister with scarf's, hats, eye's, noses, mouths and of course buttons. We take a few photo's just for keep sake's.

3. Making cut out cookies for the tree is a nice way to warm up after being outside all afternoon. With some hot chocolate and icing with candy we begin to decorate. This gives them some time to wined down and get some lunch. Usually some type of vegetable soup made from scratch and a sandwich with a piece of fruit.

4. Trip to the local park and go sled riding for the rest of the day. We all take a ride down the big hill and walk all the way back up to the top. This is where we all have some laughs and the thrill of the ride going really fast. It is really nice when we pack extra cloths; gloves, pants, socks, even dry coats with blankets for the ride home. Pack a tail gate picnic with hot chocolate and coffee. Cookies are a must as well as some home made candy. We stay as long as we can without getting to dark or cold.

5. Dinner we have either a pot pie with some of the vegetables from this summer and a mash potato crust with cheese or soup and sandwiches. We have the radio on with some contemporary music or we put in our snoopy CD which we all know the words too. There is plenty of tea, cider and eggnog to go along with the cookies. With full stomachs a nice long warm bath and new pajamas we sit down to read a few stories until his eye's are shut tight. I leave some cookies at the foot of the bed where we have a little bag for midnight snacks. If he does wake up we just talk for awhile then read another story that is quite long....fast asleep again.


This contest is from Twittermoms.com and www.DramaU.net.

The cozy St. Eve Kids collection caters to the boy hoping to unwrap a pair of spaceship pajamas and the girl wanting to find the prettiest nightgown under the tree. All St. Eve Kids products are available in infant/toddler and kid’s sizes.