Imaginary Friends MUST Sleep on the Couch!

My boys usually have a hard time falling asleep at night. This has just become a fact of life for us and we deal with it. On weekends and holidays we let them fall asleep on their own, but school nights require a little assistance. Melatonin works wonders. We have been using it since the pediatrician recommended it while my husband was in Iraq and I'm not sure my boys would ever fall asleep before 3 am without it. Even with the Melatonin, some nights are harder than others, and last night was one of the more difficult ones.
Kevin was getting angry and aggressive because he was so tired (which is normal for him) and Ben was getting "slap happy" (which means he was practically bouncing off the walls). Since the boys share a room, this makes for a pretty volatile situation. I ended up lying down with Kevin and rubbing his ears to get him to settle down enough to fall asleep. At first he got mad at me because that's just how he gets when he is overly tired, but once I had rubbed his ears for a couple minutes he began to calm down. I stayed with him until he was right on the edge of sleep and then moved on to Ben.
Ben is a lot easier to settle down than Kevin because he doesn't get agitated the same way his brother does. He wants to talk non-stop about whatever topic he is currently fixated on, which at the moment is Power Puff Girls (yes, you read that right). Apparently Blossom is his new imaginary friend and he wanted to tell me all about her. I told him that there are no girls allowed in his room at bedtime because it is inappropriate. Ever the logical one, he argued that the rule does not apply to Blossom because she is imaginary. How do you have a serious conversation with a 9 year old about an imaginary person when he wants to use logic to argue against you and NOT laugh? Let me tell you, it is not easy! However, I finally convinced him that she had to sleep in the living room on the sofa because its the house rule for all people, real and imaginary.
And what was Rapunzel doing during all of this? She was sound asleep in her room, of course. That girl is serious about her food and her sleep time. :-)