Putting the kids to bed

When my children were younger, they used to have to go through an evening ritual of being put to bed, which could take hours, thankfully as they aged this got quicker. Now they are older, they put themselves to bed, which means I can sit on the sofa, glass of wine in hand and shout occasionally "are you in bed"

However, since moving here, bedtimes have become a very long event, and a process that I do question sometimes. Due to the fact that we have several small animals including day old chicks, which are a favourite food of the night time rats, we have to ensure that every single last one is in a nesting box, under their mums..

Many would say why bother, and there are times when I think the same, but I know that if I don't check they are all tucked up, I would sit upstairs pondering their fate. Within an hour I would have imagined every nasty scenario, and end up having to go down with a torch to check. Now checking chicks in the dark is far harder, and scarier, therefore, just getting on with it seems the better option.

So, every evening one of us has to go down, and do the bedtime circuit of making sure that the ducks, chicks, Peppa and the goats are in bed...this often feels like an episode of the Walton's as I stand in the drive saying goodnight to everything. I suppose this is just part of being responsible for all these animals....howeevr, saying goodnight to them, just proves I am going slightly mad!