Go to Bed!
I remember being young and never wanting to go to sleep. I see it now with the boys as we set their bedtime and they slowly nudge it back a bit. We are now through the first report cards of the year and although the boys did okay, there is a firm belief that they can do better.
I'm of the opinion,of course, that they work us a bit too much on that standard sleep time. I wish I had a dime for the number of times I've asked why they aren't in bed. So, last night, I re-established the rules.
"I want you in your beds at 9 - with lights off at 9:15 for Sam and lights off at 9:30 for Jake. Matt's lights should be off at 10:00. Does everyone understand?"
I got 3 nods of the head. "No, I forgot to brush my teeth. No, I need to drop flipper off at the harbour (you can guess what that means). No, I need to tell Mom something."
3 more nods of the head.
We finished prayers at 8:45. They immediately brushed their teeth - and I suffered through another 15 minutes of television before heading off to check on them. Jake was in bed - check. Matt was in bed - check. Sam was kneeling at the side of his bed doing math problems - uh, no check.
"What're you doing?" I asked.
"Practicing math," he said.
"What time is it?" I asked.
The poor kid glanced over his shoulder and saw it was 9:01 and he started crying.
"Why are you crying?" I asked, now horrified that I was the commander of a gestapo.
"I'm waiting for cough medicine," he said. "So I thought I'd practice my math."
"Yeah, but why are you crying?"
"Because I missed the time limit."
I kissed him and tickled him for being so silly. It wasn't that big of a deal!
I headed off to sleep and the gods of sleep tortured me - I was awake by 4:45 AM wondering why I couldn't sleep anymore.
Sam had got his revenge.
I'm of the opinion,of course, that they work us a bit too much on that standard sleep time. I wish I had a dime for the number of times I've asked why they aren't in bed. So, last night, I re-established the rules.
"I want you in your beds at 9 - with lights off at 9:15 for Sam and lights off at 9:30 for Jake. Matt's lights should be off at 10:00. Does everyone understand?"
I got 3 nods of the head. "No, I forgot to brush my teeth. No, I need to drop flipper off at the harbour (you can guess what that means). No, I need to tell Mom something."
3 more nods of the head.
We finished prayers at 8:45. They immediately brushed their teeth - and I suffered through another 15 minutes of television before heading off to check on them. Jake was in bed - check. Matt was in bed - check. Sam was kneeling at the side of his bed doing math problems - uh, no check.
"What're you doing?" I asked.
"Practicing math," he said.
"What time is it?" I asked.
The poor kid glanced over his shoulder and saw it was 9:01 and he started crying.
"Why are you crying?" I asked, now horrified that I was the commander of a gestapo.
"I'm waiting for cough medicine," he said. "So I thought I'd practice my math."
"Yeah, but why are you crying?"
"Because I missed the time limit."
I kissed him and tickled him for being so silly. It wasn't that big of a deal!
I headed off to sleep and the gods of sleep tortured me - I was awake by 4:45 AM wondering why I couldn't sleep anymore.
Sam had got his revenge.
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