What time do your children go to bed?
Don't worry, this is not some social services sponsored survey, or a Daily Mail research question asked with the intention of writing a piece about the shocking time that we as modern parents put our children to bed. I'm just interested in how the rest of you achieve what should be a relatively simple exercise; that of putting your children to bed in a timely manner.
Can it, I wonder, be done without shouts, cajoling, and threats? Today's doozy was that unless Boy #2 stopped complaining his pillow wasn't plumped up enough - poor little Lord Fauntleroy that he is - I wouldn't have time to make fairy cakes* for his end of term** party taking place tomorrow afternoon. Bad Potty Mummy.
Unsurprisingly, the threat worked and you could hear a pin drop as I completed the task in hand (isn't the mixture for vanilla fairy cakes delicious? Who needs dinner, anyway?) whilst making enough noise in the kitchen with my ancient electric mixer to wake the dead. And amazingly, even with the motorbike-like noises that the 20 year old machine emits, by the time I had finished the cakes at 8.30pm both of my little angels were fast asleep.
I could pretend that this is a result of our nightly routine being smoother than a baby's bottom. I could. But I won't torture you with such smug lies. I suspect, in fact, that it was more to do with a riotous weekend, when the Boys had a couple of similar aged house-guests staying (never a recipe for an early night or a lie-in), and a bbq that got a little out of hand (curse these long light evenings!), which meant that on neither Friday nor Saturday night were they in bed at anything like a respectable hour.
So now, after a day at school, they are exhausted. Which helps somewhat in the pursuit of a reasonable bedtime hour in a season when the sun doesn't set here until around 10.15pm and it stays light until gone 11pm. But I would really love to know, other than blackout curtains and blinds (already in place), is what blandishments and bribes you use to get your kids in bed on time during the summer. Answers in the comments box, please...
* Yes, FAIRY cakes, none of your cupcake nonsense. In Union Jack cases too, so there... (Can you tell that much as I love living in an international environment I am SO ready to head back to Blighty for a couple of weeks?)
** And yes, it is the end of term for us this week. No, you don't have to say it. I know...
Don't worry, this is not some social services sponsored survey, or a Daily Mail research question asked with the intention of writing a piece about the shocking time that we as modern parents put our children to bed. I'm just interested in how the rest of you achieve what should be a relatively simple exercise; that of putting your children to bed in a timely manner.
Can it, I wonder, be done without shouts, cajoling, and threats? Today's doozy was that unless Boy #2 stopped complaining his pillow wasn't plumped up enough - poor little Lord Fauntleroy that he is - I wouldn't have time to make fairy cakes* for his end of term** party taking place tomorrow afternoon. Bad Potty Mummy.
Unsurprisingly, the threat worked and you could hear a pin drop as I completed the task in hand (isn't the mixture for vanilla fairy cakes delicious? Who needs dinner, anyway?) whilst making enough noise in the kitchen with my ancient electric mixer to wake the dead. And amazingly, even with the motorbike-like noises that the 20 year old machine emits, by the time I had finished the cakes at 8.30pm both of my little angels were fast asleep.
I could pretend that this is a result of our nightly routine being smoother than a baby's bottom. I could. But I won't torture you with such smug lies. I suspect, in fact, that it was more to do with a riotous weekend, when the Boys had a couple of similar aged house-guests staying (never a recipe for an early night or a lie-in), and a bbq that got a little out of hand (curse these long light evenings!), which meant that on neither Friday nor Saturday night were they in bed at anything like a respectable hour.
So now, after a day at school, they are exhausted. Which helps somewhat in the pursuit of a reasonable bedtime hour in a season when the sun doesn't set here until around 10.15pm and it stays light until gone 11pm. But I would really love to know, other than blackout curtains and blinds (already in place), is what blandishments and bribes you use to get your kids in bed on time during the summer. Answers in the comments box, please...
* Yes, FAIRY cakes, none of your cupcake nonsense. In Union Jack cases too, so there... (Can you tell that much as I love living in an international environment I am SO ready to head back to Blighty for a couple of weeks?)
** And yes, it is the end of term for us this week. No, you don't have to say it. I know...
