Yes, we’d love to hang out with you and your family! But there’s just one catch, we have to be home by 6:30 p.m. You see, my kids are just not flexible when it comes to bedtime. I’m not sure if that’s a habit we created or if it’s an innate characteristic, but regardless, it’s a fact of our life. And if I’m honest, I don’t mind it one bit.
I, too, prefer to go to bed early and dare I say it, get up early as well? Ok so maybe not as early as my kids 5:30ish wake-up call each day, but I do feel most positive, productive and energetic at the start of the day. Plus, my husband and I can get some quality time together, unwind and even watch a movie together and still be in bed ourselves by 9:30 p.m. Which, really is a necessity since we know we’ll pay for it in the morning if we stay up much later. Another benefit of our kids’ early bedtime is that we can put them to sleep ourselves, and then go out. Often times our children don’t even know we’ve left them with a babysitter while we go out for dinner.
We have tried to be flexible and push our kids’ bedtimes a little later, but the result is always the same, an even earlier wake-up call. Whether they go to bed at 7:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m., one thing is guaranteed, the kids will be up for the day at 5:00 a.m. or earlier. Not to mention the accompanying lack of control of emotions, whininess and meltdowns that come with delayed bedtime. Furthermore, it often takes them a few days to get back on track once they’ve stayed up past bedtime.
Sure, early bedtime can make things complicated when planning evening outings with friends and it’s definitely a bit tricky around the holidays, but for the most part, we’ve found a way to get home and stick to our 7:00 p.m. lights out bedtime. Our friends and loved ones are almost always willing to accommodate our request for earlier meet ups and family gatherings. Even during trips to Disney or on other family vacations, we’re pretty firm on bedtime as it keeps us consistent and helps everyone function at their best. And early bedtime means early dinner. This means we’re often dining with senior citizens and families with toddlers, but that’s perfectly fine with us! Eating between 5:00-5:30 p.m. is really key to helping maintain our bedtime routine.
And let me just note, I’m a pretty laid back mom. I fly by the seat of my pants most of the time and rarely have a schedule. But the one thing you can bet on is that I’m always on time for bedtime. I witness and experience the benefits first hand of supporting my kids’ early to bed early to rise routine and pretty much do all I can to stick to it. I just can’t be flexible in this area.
Frankly, in my opinion, it’s just not worth it to me to keep my kids up later. I realize that the phase we’re in is just that; a phase, and it will not last forever. For now, though, we’ve found a rhythm that works for our family and 7:00 p.m. bedtime is the sweet spot for our kids. And at least on those rare occasions when we throw caution to the wind and let our kids stay up “late”, we know what we’re in for the next morning.
