Have you ever felt like bedtime has turned into a complete nightmare? Before the pandemic, my evenings were challenging but manageable. I could usually get my kids to bed at a reasonable hour and have some precious “me time” to watch my favorite shows and enjoy a glass of wine. Now, I’m lucky if they’re settled down before nearly midnight, and those late-night wanderings into my room have become a regular occurrence. I’m utterly exhausted, and if I have to hear my mother-in-law mention how “kids need a schedule” one more time, I might just lose it.
Is someone monitoring my family? Because apart from the not-sleeping-in-their-own-beds part, your description resonates with what many of us are experiencing. The reality is that the pandemic has altered our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
Lower Your Expectations
To tackle this bedtime madness, my advice boils down to two key points. First, it’s essential to release any expectations and significantly lower your standards. Seriously, lower them even more. When we compare our current reality with how things were before the pandemic, it’s easy to feel like we’re falling short. We’re all a bit more on edge, and the kids are getting way more screen time than we ever allowed before. But that’s okay! These extraordinary circumstances call for flexibility, and we should stop expecting our lives to mirror a pre-COVID routine.
So, bedtime might be later than usual. So what? Maybe this new schedule aligns better with your kids’ natural sleep patterns. My own children, who are now 10 and 13, have shifted from a 9:00 PM bedtime to crashing around 11:00 or even midnight and sleeping in much longer than before. Just because this new routine wouldn’t have worked in a world buzzing with school and extracurricular activities doesn’t mean it’s a failure now.
Meet Your Kids Where They Are
Consider if there’s a specific time when your children seem more amenable to bedtime. If they need extra stories or require a little more comfort, embrace that. If they consistently end up in your room, instead of fighting it, perhaps set up a sleeping bag on the floor or even look into a larger bed.
Another helpful approach is to meet your kids where they are. Rather than trying to impose strict changes on them, adapt to their needs—within reasonable limits, of course. Once you let go of the pressure to conform to a rigid schedule, you might discover that the later bedtimes and shared sleeping arrangements are actually working for your family. Feel free to tell your mother-in-law and that overly opinionated neighbor to mind their own business when they insist that “kids need a schedule” or brag about their own children’s perfect bedtime routines. Chances are, they haven’t had to parent through a global crisis, so their perspectives are less relevant than they think.
In Summary
In summary, bedtime is challenging even under ideal conditions, and these are anything but ideal. Adjust your expectations and do what suits your family best. For more insights on navigating family dynamics during these times, consider checking out this great resource on IUI success. If you’re interested in at-home insemination options, this blog post might also provide valuable information, alongside this authority on self insemination.