Finding Monkey Moon

Finding Monkey Moon written by Elizabeth Pulford and illustrated by Kate Wilkinson (2015)

When it’s time for Michael to go to bed, he realizes that his favorite stuffed toy is missing. Dad helps him look for Monkey Moon under the couch, behind the chair, in the toy box, and all the usual places Monkey Moon might hide. Then Dad wonders if he might still be at the park. Michael and his dad take an evening walk with a flashlight looking for Monkey Moon. He’s not at the swings, in the sandbox, or behind the trees. Just as they are ready to give up, Michael spots two twinkling eyes peeking out of the bushes where Monkey Moon has been hiding. So riding on Michael’s shoulders, Monkey Moon goes hippity-hop home.

 

This is a sweet bedtime story about searching for your special bedtime buddy and not being able to go to sleep until you find him. (And, the great lengths a parent might go to help the youngster find his bedtime buddy so everyone could get a good night’s rest.)

Find a few things your little ones might need during their bedtime ritual…

I have a friend who actually had TWO of her child’s favorite lovey. Once her son developed an attachment to his rabbit, she ran out and got another. While he was still young she would trade them out intermittently so they wore and smelled the same. He never knew there were two of them, so on the occasion that one was left in the car, or at grandma’s house, she could slip in the substitute and he never knew the difference!

 

There’s nothing like a sip of warm milk to soothe an active mind and body and prepare a child for sleep. It starts the mind thinking of warm and cozy thoughts even before the body winds down. A little drink during a quiet bedtime story and a loving cuddle will often be enough to help your child’s passage into dreamland.

A little calming lavender (or other favorite scent) mixed in a water spray bottle might be just the thing for kids who have night time fears. Let them spray under the bed, in the closet, or wherever the bogeyman hides. Or turn the whole concept around and call it the Sweet Dreams spray.  Leave the bottle on their nightstand and they can give their room a second dose as needed without calling you.

Some kids and parents enjoy a quick 2minute massage with scented lotion just before sleep. (Lavender baby lotion works great.)