Comments for Shoot The Moose

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by nm

nm — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:11:45 +0000

Oh, yeah, I should have said: my best friend when I was a girl was put to bed on this system, and if she ever stayed awake as long as half an hour after be-in-bed-quiet time it’s news to me. And it was all so low-stress for everyone. No drama, like ~~Mary J. Blige~~ Ginger says.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by GingerSnaps

GingerSnaps — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:59:06 +0000

I must laugh, because from the day Amanda was brought forth from my body, she has *never* wanted to go to bed at the normally prescribed times as set forth by Spock (or Capt. Kirk or whoever the child rearing authorities are these days).

Why, she might miss something!

So, I spent a few years beating myself up over being a horrible mother who couldn’t control her child to now just making everything quiet, and like nm said…giving her the opportunity to fall asleep on her own without a bunch of drama. She doesn’t seem to need as much sleep as the usual amount that kids her age do…she never has…and she has good grades, etc. So…I suppose it’s all in how you pick your battles.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by nm

nm — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:02:38 +0000

I think you are approaching this question backwards. An arbitrary bedtime, especially one of the “in bed with the lights out” variety, can lead to severe insomnia: kid isn’t ready to sleep, lies in bed awake, body goes into being-awake-in-bed mode, so sleep doesn’t come when it is needed. (This happened to me as a kid, and it took me years to get over the insomnia.)

A more reasonable approach is to give them a time to be in bed (in their pajamas, with teeth brushed and all that stuff), with the overhead light off — but to let them read with a bedside lamp, sit up, whatever they want to do quietly, until they are ready to turn off the lamp and fall asleep on their own. This has a lot of advantages. It gets your kids out of active play or study mode at the appropriate time for them to start winding down, gives them autonomy in terms of control over when they fall asleep, and lets them establish natural sleep patterns.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by Susie

Susie — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:36:04 +0000

My 2 at 17 and 15 have had the same bedtime since they got to middle school…10 p.m. Mostof the time J can’t keep her eyes open past 9:30 and we have to gripe at D to get his butt in bed on time. When they were younger it was 9 p.m. On the weekends they still have bedtime no later that 12 on Friday night or 11 on Saturday so they can get up for church. Trust me, your kids are reaching the age rapidly where nothing their parents does is right, and they think they are smarter than you anyway, so if you feel like it is important that they go to bed then stick to your guns. You might be a little more lenient on Friday as they get older.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by dolphin

dolphin — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:44:22 +0000

8-8:30 sounds about like when my bedtime was at that age.

I had an incredibly early bedtime (I think the latest it ever got was 9) until I was about 13 or so. Then “bedtime” vanished altogether, and I just went to bed whenever I felt like it. I suspect most people gradually get later bedtimes. I didn’t. I went from very early to none at all pretty much in one fell swoop.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by ford prefect

ford prefect — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:37:04 +0000

First off we are wusses when it comes to inforceing bedtime rules. Add to that that both our kids inheritied our love for staying up late. Now Z is 19 and I’ve got no idea what time he goes to bed but he is out of school and doing his own thing. Now if he would just do his own thing at his own place! (but that is a completly different subject!)
L is a different story, she turns 13 next month, we try very hard to get her into bed by 9:30 but we usually fail at that so she usually averages getting into bed around 10:00 or 10:30, but with my current schedule I’m home in the mornings and she usually gets to sleep till 8:00am or so. So she averages 9 to 10 hours a night.
I guess alot of it depends on the individual kids and their ability to get up and moving in the mornings. L has never been a problem in that department where as Z when he was younger was a holy terror every morning no matter how much sleep he got.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:01:20 +0000

I think you’re nearing the ages where they kind of learn to judge when they’re tired and ready to pack it in… Maybe to avoid a big blow up over something as minute as ‘bedtime, y’all could compromise with the kids. 9 &10 years olds should at least get to stay up until 9-9:30 in the summer. I have two boys (5 & 2) and their collective bedtime is 8-8:30..

Also, I think it’s very responsible for y’all to bother to look up the recommended rest per night - but it is just an estimate.. all kids are different..

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by Busy Mom

Busy Mom — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:29:22 +0000

Ours go to bed whenever we catch them.

Comment on To Sleep, Perchance by x117236

x117236 — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:51:09 +0000

A is 9, he goes to bed at 8:30, lights out at 9. Except for bad nights like last night when he put off his project for so long that it was 11:30.

R is 4, he goes to bed at 9:30 or 10. Yes, later than his older brother. However, he is still in a daycare that makes him take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and he isn’t ready to sleep at 8. His time will be early when he starts school in August.

Comment on I’m Sane Now, Butt It Hurts by bridgett

bridgett — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:27:35 +0000

Owie, dang! I broke my tailbone as a kid and it still hurts from time to time. “Other things” sound potentially difficult. But you have the One Thing on your side.

And the kids…yes, Lord, they grow up quickly. Kid is nine and taller than her granny. No time spent loving them is wasted.