I am a big believer in bedtime and routines. When my children were younger and still took naps, I NEVER left the house or made plans during naptime. I was actually very surprised when I learned that other moms weren’t as structured as I was and that sometimes they even ran errands or made plans during naptime. The whole idea was foreign to me.
At bedtime, my kids are in bed on time and I rarely make an exception. I get it honestly from my mom as I have vivid childhood memories of being in bed during the summer while it was still light out, getting out of bed and watching my neighborhood friends play outside all while I was in bed (now as a parent, I understand why my mom had us in bed so early…she was tired and needed a break from us!).
So I am wondering what has happened to me this summer? I have pretty much let bedtime fall by the wayside. More times than I can count my girls have been up until 9:30 (and on several occasions, 10:30!) and it is not freaking me out. In fact, I’m enjoying our evening activities. We’ve gone on bike rides, watched movies in our new backyard theater, played on the swing set and have generally just been enjoying the fact that it is staying light out and that we have nowhere to be in the morning.
I guess I am just surprised at myself. I am typically very rigid and the fact that I have become so lenient with bedtime routines is so un-Margaret-like. Motherhood has taught me all sorts of things that I never knew about myself and might not have ever known had I not become a mom. Just when I think I know myself and my parenting style pretty well, something pops up and I realize that for better or worse, I am constantly changing. In this instance, I think it is good that I have lightened up. I just hope that when school starts back up I am able to snap everyone back into our “normal” routine quickly!