what does yoda have to do with big girls sleeping in their own beds?

Boaz came home late tonight and as a result, he was conveniently absent for bedtime and specifically for getting Naomi to bed, since he'd taken her transition to a big girl bed as his own project.

"What's the secret?" I ask this morning. "You've gotta tell me if you're not going to be around for bedtime."

"No secret," he says coolly. "Just put her in bed and say goodnight. "

"I can't believe you're not going to tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," he says. "You just do it."

"If she's up when you get home, she's yours," I tell him.

So because I had a ton of stuff to do this evening in addition to a mountain of laundry that is growing faster than the science experiment in the refrigerator (why is doing laundry somewhat satisfying and folding it such a major pain in the arse?), I stressed out pretty hard around bedtime. In fact, I lost my temper with the kids when Naomi wouldn't stop whining and then screaming for fun. It was completely not fair and I felt like a miserable parent. So when I turned off the light in the girls' room, I patted Naomi for a bit while she laid there with her eyes open saying "pat me?" repeatedly.

After about the umpteenth "pat me" I realized it wasn't helping her and that I was absolutely doing it because I felt bad about yelling. I'm not sure why I thought it would since I don't pat her for more than a few times in her crib and then kiss her goodnight as she curls up happily to sleep (at least most of the time). So I kissed her goodnight and left the room. She cried out once as I was leaving and then curled up and went to sleep.

Huh?

He wasn't kidding. There's no magic secret except for perhaps believing that she'd go to sleep? Or as Samuel pointed out to me tonight, Yoda says "No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

I totally channeled my inner-Yoda tonight.