November Thankful #12

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm doing daily thankful posts. I'd love it if you'd join me by commenting here or on MichiGal's Facebook page.

November 12

Today I am thankful for bedtimes. Bedtimes for kids are wonderful godsends. For years Bethany and Connor had a strict 7:30 bedtime, and it was bliss. I did my grocery shopping, working out, socializing, laundry, and so much more after they were in bed. And since they went to bed so early, I got a fairly early start on my evening activities. I would read to them, give them their lovies (baby doll for Bethany, cloth diaper for Connor), start some music, and put them to bed. They were both thumb suckers too, which was a bad habit but it helped them sleep.

Then came Lucy and that strict bedtime routine went out the window. Lucy just wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her or nursing her. Bethany and Connor still had a bedtime, but being busy with Lucy, I somehow allowed it to inch its way to 8:00 and beyond. The way I finally got Lucy to sleep through the night in her own bed was by putting a movie on for her. She was 18 months old, I was desperate. She's now 5 and still needs a movie on to get to sleep. But I digress.

Since Lucy was just never as good a sleeper as Bethany and Connor, we never had a strict bedtime for her. She often stayed up way later than them, and we were just relieved that she would sleep in her own bed at all. Our bedtime standards plummeted, in other words. 

When Mathilda came along, she was just as bad as Lucy. A few months after she was born, Lucy started preschool, so in order for her to get adequate sleep we had to get kind of rigid with her bedtime too. So then we had three kids on a pretty regular bedtime. 

Mathilda held out as long as she could, but finally she gave in and started sleeping in her own bed every night, all night long. But, once again we were very lenient and took anything she dished out because it had been a looooooong 18 months, and we were tired.

But now, now we are golden. When Lucy started kindergarten a few months ago, we knew she was going to need a lot of sleep. We explained to her that if she still wants a movie on at bedtime, then she'll need to be in bed by 7:30. (Of course she agreed, and she's typically out within 5-10 minutes). And we figured it was time to get Mathilda on a routine too. So Lucy and Mathilda go to bed at 7:30 every night. They sleep together in Lucy's bed. Mathilda's crib is still set up, but it's been weeks since she's slept in it. The plan is to get bunk beds eventually. But for now, the two of them are just happier snuggling up in one bed. It works, so why not? Bethany and Connor stay up until 9:00. We get a little time together without the loud little sisters, and lately we've been huddling up under a blanket on the couch and watching Punky Brewster together.

So yes, bedtimes for kids are wonderful things. But they're good for grown ups too. I've recently given myself a bedtime, or maybe bedtime range is more accurate. I tend to stay up pretty late because I relish the quiet house. I catch up on my blogging, loading the dishwasher, doing laundry, and occasionally watching television. And then I'm dragging the next day, and the cycle continues. I look tired and old. Then I found out that not getting enough sleep lowers your metabolism, and that was it. I knew I had to do something. So my new goal is to be in bed between 11:30 and 1:00 a.m. every night. I've been doing pretty good, and I hope to stick with it. 

Do you and your kids have bedtimes?