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Post by aaron on Apr 19, 2015 18:49:43 GMT -5
So on most nights, before we put my step-daughter to bed, my wife reads a chapter of a book to her (we are working our way through all of the Oz books)... and I sit nearby with Cupcake, who seems to really love it. Generally speaking, after storytime, we turn off the lights for my step-daughter, and then we immediately initiate the bedtime process for Cupcake. Of course, sometimes my step-daughter will stay with her cousins or be out late with her Dad or something like that, and won't be home for story time, so we will skip it... and what we have realized is that if Cupcake doesn't get to be part of story time, she is NOT okay with going to bed... but if she does get story time, she goes to bed willingly without a second thought. So far there has not been an exception to this rule in nearly two weeks. Pretty cute.  But of course now we're trying to come up with a way to create a mock story-time experience for her so she will happily go to bed. We haven't tried it yet, so it will be interesting to see if she finds it as enjoyable if my step-daughter isn't there.  |
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Post by cnyguy on Apr 19, 2015 19:32:53 GMT -5
Cupcake may be OK in your stepdaughter's absence as long as Cupcake gets her story time. She'll probably wonder where her young human flockmate is, but will be happy to be part of the story reading. |
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Post by aaron on Apr 19, 2015 20:32:30 GMT -5
That is what we are hoping! It makes bedtime so much more pleasant for all of us when she's been part of storytime. Just worked again tonight... |
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Post by easttex on Apr 20, 2015 4:59:21 GMT -5
I know a number of grey owners who read bedtime stories to them. It is rarely difficult to get Peppy to go into his cage, but when I started having some problems with Allie CAG, I developed a special bedtime routine for her and it made all the difference. Ritual is important for some of them, it seems.
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Post by aaron on Apr 20, 2015 9:08:11 GMT -5
I think Cupcake really appreciates ritual... Unfortunately a lot of her rituals are fairly flexible in our house... I guess all the more reason to help her establish some that don't change often.
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Post by julianna on Apr 20, 2015 14:10:42 GMT -5
I wish I could read a book to Oscar. As soon as I pick one up he comes running over and wants to chew it... or for me to put it down. This is same for the newspaper... or anything I want to hold. Geezzz cupcake sounds like a dream.
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Post by aaron on Apr 20, 2015 14:29:00 GMT -5
Cupcake is a dream most of the time, at this point in time. She is also very well distracted most of the time. But I can tell she is a maturing bird and I do sometimes sense some growing frustration in her, and certainly a maturing sense of entitlement and awareness of her ability to voice her opinion, so we will see how well we are able to manage that as time goes on. And she does try to chew the book sometimes Not too much, but it does happen. |
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Post by cnyguy on Apr 20, 2015 19:37:32 GMT -5
Ralph's favorite thing for me to read to him is the parrot supply catalog that comes every month. He likes to look at the pictures of the parrots and have me tell him what kind of parrots they are. And he usually takes a bite out of the catalog too. |
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Post by siobhan on Apr 20, 2015 22:52:41 GMT -5
Clyde is not interested in stories and he only likes TV because it keeps me in my chair where he can work on my eyebrows undisturbed.
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Post by biteybird on Apr 21, 2015 3:45:31 GMT -5
Ralph's favorite thing for me to read to him is the parrot supply catalog that comes every month. He likes to look at the pictures of the parrots and have me tell him what kind of parrots they are. And he usually takes a bite out of the catalog too. Ha! :)Again, Ralph shows his sheer class...while us poor humans are stuck with the Big W or Aldi catalogue, he's perusing quality material. |
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 21, 2015 7:25:01 GMT -5
We don't read stories before bed but we most certainly have a bedtime routine that we follow every nite. I have seen parrots compared to toddlers that never grow up. Toddlers LOVE (and need) a bedtime ritual/routine, I think parrots do too.
Mr P becomes visibly upset when I "rush" him to bed because I got distracted and it's late and will holler at me, even after he's covered, if I've skipped the routine.
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Post by biteybird on Apr 21, 2015 7:31:33 GMT -5
Our only routine is: Bonnie starts becoming MORE feral when the sun starts going down (i.e., increased squawking, nipping and flying up to her wall shelf to screech), then one of us has to "scruff her" (grab her) off the top of the wall shelf, then she gets kissed by both of us before getting stuffed unceremoniously in her cage and covered up. That's about it.  |
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Post by aaron on Apr 21, 2015 13:10:02 GMT -5
Well, last night Cupcake was being super hormonal while we were doing storytime... mostly in the form of trying to regurgitate (luckily no success) for either myself or my wife repeatedly. I always put her down immediately when she starts, but I made the mistake of putting her down on the bed, upon which we have a very fuzzy and soft blanket, and she immediately became enamored with it. So now I am expecting that story time will become somewhat more complicated, as she has started displaying a bit of an obsession with this blanket. Up until this point, she has been typically very calm during story time. And here I had thought her springtime hormones had started to taper off for the year. Early birdie bedtime tonight!
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Post by aaron on Apr 27, 2015 9:50:16 GMT -5
So we have staged some mock storytimes over the past week or so... And I am pretty sure Cupcake figured it out.  She is no longer fully willing to go to bed even if she gets a real storytime now. She seems suspicious that my step-daughter might not actually be going to bed. I guess we have violated her trust a little bit. Uh oh. I don't know what we are going to do as my step-daughter gets older... obviously we won't keep putting her to bed at 8:30-9pm... But Cupcake seems to be unhappy if they don't both go to bed at the same time. LOL. |
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Post by easttex on Apr 27, 2015 10:30:50 GMT -5
Sounds like you will have to work to outwit your bird. Allie enjoys being walked around the house, talking to her softly the whole way. Sometimes we just watch hummingbirds closeup out a window she doesn't normally see, again being talked to softly. Works for her. |
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She is no longer fully willing to go to bed even if she gets a real storytime now. She seems suspicious that my step-daughter might not actually be going to bed. I guess we have violated her trust a little bit. Uh oh.