I wish nothing but the best for My Beautiful Wickedness who recently asked for advice on how to get the 6th grader to go to bed (and sleep) on time at night,
I think that part of it is still grappling with the aftermath of having her lullaby eliminated unilaterally by me about a month ago. (A kid who wants to stay up until 10 every night and begs to watch Glee does not need a lullaby tuck-in.)
I am guessing that without that familiar ritual, she just doesn’t know how to shut herself off. Or, rather, she gets to sleep rather easily (9-11) and then can’t get back to sleep once she wakes up.
I still battle my 15-year old to go to bed. She bounces in from school and within an hour is snoring on the couch – evidence that she stayed up all night. Of course, common sense dictates that the phone be taken away at 10:00 p.m., all TV’s are turned off, etc. As a parent, let me just say that’s a LOT easier said than done.
We have taken advantage of our phone carrier’s ability to shut the cell phone off at 10:00 p.m. No text messages in or out, no phone calls in or out (except for specific numbers … like Mom & Dad’s).
Good luck because you’ll need it! It’s definitely an uphill battle!
Leave a Reply