Bedtimes!

We have staggered bedtimes. The youngest two who are 6 & 7 go to bed at 7:15 to7:30. I go with them and lie about 15-20 min with them just talking. That is our "little girl" time. :)

At 8 years old you get to stay up in the livingroom till 8:30- then you can read till 9 in your room. If you are not reading it is lights out at 8:30.(Sneaky way to get kids to read more huh??)


At 9-11 years old you get to stay up till 9 in the livingroom. Then up till 9:30 in your room reading.

At 12-13 they get to stay up till 10 in the livingroom most nights. The exception is if the kids 14 and up have a special movie to watch that is too adult for the 12-13 set. That happens maybe once or twice a month. The older kids are pretty good about not wanting to do it too much- so the younger ones give way. They know their day is coming! HAHA!

At 14 they usually go to their rooms at 10-11 unless we are watching a longer movie. I let my older teens stay up in their rooms basically as long as they want then. We have a STRICT wake-up /chore time. So they know if they stay up too late they are going to be miserable in the morning. It has not been a problem in my house. They are good at self-limiting.

Hubby and I often go to bed at 9:30 or 10. Hubby gets up EARLY for work. Our lights are usually out by 11:00. If he is not working the next day we will stay up and watch a movie with the older teens. Once in awhile they will beg me to stay up later and watch something- daddy goes on to bed. But not often. I like my hubby time too much.

One other thing we do. We have "dates" with our teens. The older two boys will take me to a movie. We have a 30 min drive so a lot of talking can go on. They love to take me to movies that make me jump! If one of them needs to do some private talking they can ask for "just you and me this time" and no one questions it. Sometimes my teens ask to take me "for a drive'' when they need a private talk. I have learned to listen WAY more than talk. Hugs, Barbara