Bedtime Anyone?

So, my question for the day is how to get my kids to sleep more. Gabe went to bed sometime after 9:30 last night. That's not to say we put him to bed that late. He was in bed at 8, so I cannot be blamed for bad parenting. Here's how our evening played out ...

7:30: We start getting the kids in bed. Pjs, followed by teeth brushing followed by bedtime stories. Ada goes first. Two or three books, a kiss on the cheek, put her in the crib, and you're done.

7:45-8: Fight with Gabe about bedtime. "I'm hungry. There's no food in my tummy. I want to play. I want, I want, I want, I want ..."

8: Get Gabe back upstairs for the third time. Start reading books (two per night). Stop after the second one because his "tummy is empty again."

8: 05: Go back downstairs for a final bedtime snack. (Does his stomach have a bottom?)

8: 10: Back upstairs. Tuck him in, turn off the light. Final hug and kiss from daddy.

8:15: Al and I finally get some quiet time. We turn on 24, Season 5, and watch Jack Bauer begin a covert operation against the terrorists.

8:17: Just as Jack Bauer yells at everyone to "Get down on the ground! I'm a federal agent," we hear the upstairs door open and the gate creak as someone (namely a 3-year-old) leans against it.

8:18: The first excuse. "Momma! Momma! I don't like my music." Al pauses the DVD, I tromp up the stairs, settle Gabe back in bed and go back down to the couch."

8:32: I'm half-way through a glass of wine. So relaxed, enjoying the fact that Jack Bauer has just saved 800 people from the devastating effects of nerve gas. I hear the door upstairs swing open, and a little voice yell over the gate, "Momma! Something's wrong with me!"

8:33 Back upstairs. "What's wrong, Gabe?" "Um, um, ..." (he's stalling.) "My bed is all messed up. I can't sleep in it." Straighten out beck, tuck him back in, tell him that this is, seriously, the last time he's getting out of bed. Head back downstairs.

9:15: It's been quiet for almost 45 minutes. I'm engrossed in 24. Al is snoring on the other side of the couch. The kids are finally asleep ... the door creaks again.

9:17: (Tiny whisper) "Momma!" (A little louder) "Momma!" I nudge Al. He snorts a little and wakes up. "You're turn," I tell him. Up he goes. I hear Gabe babbling some excuse about his Star War guys not in the right place on his nightstand, and then I hear Al laying down the law and threatening Gabe with a spanking if he gets out of bed again.

9:34: We give up on Jack for the night. The terrorists are still on the loose. Our children are in bed. It's quiet again. I think Gabe has finally settled. We turn off the lights, stumble to bed, and call it a night.