3 children aged 12, 10 and 7.
We stick to the same routine every night of wind-down in rooms from 7-8pm. Showers/baths, talk to us if they like, stories if they like, play alone etc etc. No screens after 7pm.
At about 8pm they are expected to be quiet in their rooms and not bother us any more, at which point:
- 7yo is expected to go to sleep
- 10yo is expected to read in bed and be asleep/silent by 9pm
- 12yo is expected to read/amuse himself in room and be asleep/silent by 9.30pm (99% successful as he is very tired by then)
But nearly every night, at least one of the younger two comes downstairs on some pretext or is caught being up past their agreed time!!! "I feel sick/I can't sleep/I'm thirsty/blah blah blah"! We don't give them a welcome reception, so why keep doing it?!
Even worse, sometimes we go up to bed at 10.30pm and the middle one is still awake and banging around! It's like we can't even have a mental break before it all starts again at 6am the next day [rolls eyes].
When I was a kid I used to stay up very late reading, but I didn't let my parents know I was doing it!! I used to turn the light out when I heard them coming and turn it back on once they were in their room !
AIBU to expect them to just give us a break? Anyone else successfully dealt with this kind of problem where they just won't quit?!