Tomorrow is the first day of school. However my kids could not care less since they found out that they are only there for 45 minutes. In their minds they can therefore stay up late as usual and just be tired AFTER they finish up.
This is not working for me.
While I have loved the hedonistic free for all that summer is at the House of Crunch, sleep sucks enough around here. Forced routine of that evil institution is the only excuse us slacker parents have for forcing them upstairs before 9pm. They are only 7 and 9 fer Pete’s sake. Their fun filled evenings also make it hard to convince Tara that at two she NEEDS to go to sleep before we do.
Sleep is a bit of a joke around here. We tend to look at the kids rooms as merely places to dump toys. Nobody (apart from Tara so far) really ever sleeps in their own beds…not for very long anyway.
I like to think of us a reverse co sleepers.
However the exhausting arguments EVERY SINGLE NIGHT about who gets to sleep where and me sitting on my bed shrieking NO NO NO NO YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING IN HERE is not conducive to a relaxing bedtime routine. When I rabidly chase them both out of my bedroom and shut the door to their mutinous mutterings, the whispered giggling mounts up. Caity has not muttered herself into HER bed. She is now laying beside Adam in HIS bed. They are reading. They resemble some sort of shrunken couple as they comment on some point or other that their Complete Guide to Pokemon Domination has show them.
I am halfway to just buying a full size mattress for them to use. But then how long is this happy brother sister sleep situation going to last for them? Or more to the point, when does the happy brother sister sleep situation get creepy?
As an only child, I boggle at how these two can fight so viciously, call each other terrible names, yet happily and lovingly pool together for the sake of company and comfort in what is obviously a cold and callous household.
That’s right. MOM and DAD don’t always want to share our bed with two kids and a dog. We are only just thankful that Tara hasn’t twigged about all this yet.
The bed is not big enough. My patience is not big enough.
On top of that..these kids need real sleep. Adam gets weepy when he is over tired. He gets overstimulated too. He finds it VERY hard to wind down for the night. Caity just can’t let things go till she just crashes out.
This makes for aggravating nights and very tough mornings. I am not looking forward to dragging grouchy kids up in the am once again.
I would love to know if other siblings enjoy sharing their beds as much as mine do. Especially those of opposite genders.
Sleep is a Big Deal to me. Like HUGE. I’ve been obsessed with sleep since K was six months. I do not function on fractured sleep so EVERYONE must obey my sleep rules. And I’m strict. However, being strict on sleep has resulted in kids who sleep in their own beds from 8pm to 8am…although school is now going to put a damper on that nice wake up time. Damn you, school! I guess I had a good five year run.
Hard Core! Like it! You should become a sleep trainer 😉
Aw, I think people like to sleep together. It’s just human nature. We pretty much lie down with Theo until he falls alseep at night and then when he wakes again at 4, one of sleeps with him or he moves into our bed. Such is life.
Sidenote: Best photo ever!