Teens, Tweens and Sleep

I'm striving to continue with my blogging plan so today is Wild Wednesday, time to write about parenting.  Parenting is like a roller coaster, there are ups, downs, twist and turns.  This past year we have definitely experienced changes since hitting the tween/teen stage of life.  I remember when my 13 and almost 12 year old were really little, bedtime was SO challenging.  They fussed, wanted more stories, wouldn't always stay in bed and bothered each other (they shared a room).  I know I stated more than once that I hated bedtime!  Then we reached a point, during the early to middle elementary years, where it wasn't so bad.  They went to bed, stayed in bed and we got some relaxing alone time in the evening, it was nice!  During that phase our youngest was a baby/toddler and he LOVED to go to bed.  He was unusual in that our bedtime issues with him didn't start until around age 3-1/2.   By then, I was an expert and had some tricks up my sleeve :-)

This past year my older two have been wanting to stay up later and have started giving us a hard time about it.  It's been frustrating to say the least especially since we know they need sleep.  Over the summer I didn't mind them staying up late, that is what summers are for and since they would sleep until 9, 10 or 11 a.m., it was all good!  However, with the start of school this fall, bedtime has become an issue for everyone!

I like to get up early, around 6 a.m., have my coffee, read a devotional and take a few minutes to pray.  Therefore, I need to be in bed by 10 p.m. at the latest.  Since our evenings have been challenging with getting everyone to bed, I have been cranky!  My ideal is that I should be able to just tell them to go to bed and they would BUT...it's not that easy.  I've been reading about brain chemistry and development in teenagers.  As they hit puberty, their melatonin levels are slower to rise in the evening, so when they tell me they aren't tired at 9, 9:30, 10, they may actually mean it.  However, they I need to go to bed!  Another issue is that they tend to want to talk, I mean pour their hearts out, late at night.  When they come in at 10:30 and "need to talk" I know I need to listen.  I am thankful they will do that with me.

We live in a 2 bedroom, 1350 square foot house.  My oldest sleeps in our office and as of last week our 12 and 7 year old shared the 2nd bedroom.  However, the 7 year old has been following in his big brothers footsteps and is struggling to go to bed and fall asleep.  This wasn't an issue last school year. It's amazing how different he is at 7 than his brothers were at that age.  He wants to be just like them.

Last week, in a moment of desperation (meaning 10:30 p.m. and despite everyone being in bed, no one was asleep) I told my youngest he had to sleep in our closet.  Don't worry, it's a walk-in with plenty of room.  I just needed to separate them so that they would go to sleep.  Of course, he thought that was an awesome idea and decided he was just like Harry Potter sleeping under the stairs.

My ideal is that all my boys would go to bed when they were told, quietly drift off to sleep and all share a room while completely getting along BUT...

A few days later I cleaned out my closet and now my 7 year old has moved into it for the time being.  It is a little more peaceful having all three separated.  You pick and choose your battles when parenting (I am not a perfect mom) and I am not up for the fight right now, I need my sleep!