The Bedtime Battle

By the time the girls go to bed, I'm completely exhausted. There's nothing better than the little bit of time Daddy and I have once they go to bed. I know the girls think we do fun, exciting things, but every parent knows that's not true. We do things like finish the laundry, clean up the kitchen or figure out how to survive the rest of the week. Sometimes we go crazy and watch a television show. 

Now that the girls are in middle school, they are asking to stay up later. I realize 8:30 p.m. is an early bedtime for 12-year-olds and so do they. Increasingly they are asking to stay up until 9:00 p.m. I am resisting this change with every fiber of my being. I realize it is only 30 minutes from when they go to be now, but when I think about the change, it feels like a lifetime.

Middle school children need nine to nine and one-half hours of sleep according to everything I have read. This means they could go to sleep at 9:00 p.m., get up at 6:00 a.m. and still get plenty of sleep. 

On the one hand, they are right. They should have a later bedtime. They are ready. I keep putting it off by telling the girls that they need their sleep. The truth is I need them to go to bed earlier for my own sanity. We're all moving towards the later bedtime ... but not tonight.