In praise of sleep

Much as Johnny is good-natured and agreeable, we still haven't mastered the business of getting him to bed promptly. (This is more important than it may sound to those who haven't experienced it - the parental partnership needs time spent together before parental exhaustion sets in.)

I read somewhere that childrens' reluctance to sleep was a form of separation anxiety - something that had never occurred to me, but made intuitive sense.

So now, when he's had his (at least) three stories, this is what I tell him:

If you shut your eyes tight
and look very carefully
you just might see
the moon and the stars

It seems to help - in fact he's prompted me for it a couple of times recently when I forgot.

What little spells have helped you with your children?

And did your parents have any for you?