AIBU to refuse a Year 9 staying up for the 1am match?

He's 14!! Not 4. If he is so keen to watch it, let him.. YABVU.

My two boys are Year 3 and Year 7 and I’m letting them watch it.

They are having a sleepover together in the living room and they can’t wait!

They’ll be going to bed at 9pm and setting an alarm for 1am.

I imagine that as they’ll be watching it whilst lying down under their duvets they’ll probably fall asleep at some point during the game but I would never stop them from watching it.

If they so stay awake for the duration then they’ll get a few more hours sleep in before getting up again ready for school.

Yes they will be shattered at school but it’s just one day and they can catch up on their sleep tomorrow night.

Would tell him to go to bed early-ish, wake up, watch it, go to bed, wake up at normal time and go to school at a normal time.

And? I mean, I'll always remember staying up to watch Torvill and Dean get the sixes for Bolero, but if I hadn't seen it I wouldn't need therapy because I'd missed it or anything. It would just be a memory I didn't have.

I mean, I'd have remembered going to Disney as a child for the rest of my life if it had happened, but since it didn't, I don't. I have other memories. Missing ONE thing that I would certainly get the chance to see later in life might be a big deal at the time, but so are a lot of things when you are a kid. And none of us get to do all our 'big deal' things, do we?

I can't believe the lack of perspective over this. It's not even the final, it's not an event that will never happen again. I expect the kids to think it's the be all and end all because kids don't have that perspective, but the adults claiming this is so important that denying your child the chance to see it is some terrible thing is bizarre.

‘Core memory’ is a quote from Pixar’s Inside Out I reckon!

At 14 mine were trusted to decide when they needed to go to sleep, but they were required to be at school on time regardless. Never have had an issue with them, my youngest who is ND started full time work at 16 starting at 830 and if he stays up late/is tired he'll compensate the following night.

Rules would be stay up if he wants but into school normal time regardless at 14.

I would let primary age kids stay up also but would keep them off a bit later the following day.

My eldest son (20) has planned it well, he has to leave for work at 8am tomorrow so set his alarm for 6am this morning so hes extra tired tonight and will go to sleep for a few hours before the football 😂

It’s not funny. It’s a serious matter. A 14 year old who sleeps 10 hours or more a night might (might) have an underlying health need. They might just be a very sleepy person - but it’s worth looking at isn’t it?

It's all part of the pseudo babble that's replacing plain English, what's wrong with 'memory', where else do you keep them?

If you don't let him - first, he probably won't sleep properly anyway, and second, he'll never forget what you did. Do you really want to create resentment and a bad memory he'll still recall 20 years from now? As a PP said, tell him he has to go to bed very early and you'll wake him up for the match. He's old enough to understand that he'll feel awful at school if he gets no sleep at all.

Then he goes to school at the normal time.

Get a nap in before then leave it up to him to get up for it. Our first Scotland match was 2am it was a Sunday morning but I went for a sleep. My DD stayed up, she fell asleep after the second half though 😂 I watched it and went back to sleep. It’s once every 4 years as others have said. Just make it clear if he wants to watch he still needs to get up and got school next day. X

In our house the rule is my husband and I can’t go against what the other said. So if he asked you first and it was a no, that’s the end of that. If he asked his dad and his dad said yes, that’s the end of the conversation too. So it would be simple for us.

I would have let my kids watch the Scotland matches if they were in any way interested in football. Sadly they aren’t so I watched alone. I would let them watch tonight but they’d be at school tomorrow.

Oh, I get that it's a one off in terms of a late night for this tournament. The shared experience with their peers and family (although not in OP's case, as she's said neither her nor DH will stay up) I also understand.

But I still don't think it's a bad point to make that this isn't going to be the last ever WC, it's not the final, it's not so rare that we get this far and it really isn't the seminal moment people are making it out to be. Yes, it's an exciting thing for children to do, but I suspect for some it's the being allowed to be up at that time that will have more appeal than the actual event, not to mention, as OP said, some children being told they can skive off for it in the morning.

I genuinely think parents make more of a big deal out of this than the kids do, to be honest, and if it wasn't being hyped up so much, most kids wouldn't expect to be watching it at that time.

As I said, I think it should be OP's son's choice at 14 to watch it, with the caveat that he still has to get up and got to school at the normal time. But if he doesn't watch it, he won't be the only one and it isn't like he's missed history in the making or anything. And if he does remember for a while that his mum didn't let him watch it, but his dad said he could, so what? I'm sure we all had those times, things we thought were so important, and our parents didn't agree but the naysayer won. I know I have. Why is this any more of a big deal than the concert dad agreed to but mum said no to, or the trip away with a friend, or whatever?

Just chill woman - he is 14 not 4，let him deal with the situation as he wants because he needs to learn how to deal with being tired but still having to get on with his day.

Hard to believe this is even real. And I don’t like football but I do parent teenagers and young adults.
unclench indeed.

People literally can’t think for themselves nowadays. Why do you need help making this decision/ need validation for it?

Ok - something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. Is that better?

As an irrelevant aside, I hate the term “core memory”.

My yr 4 and 6 are watching...they will go to bed first though.

YABU. He’ll cope for one day. It’s the end of term anyway, they’re not really working anymore

Year 9! Of course he stays up - he’s not a baby and can cope with the being a bit tired. You need to let go a bit, OP.

Year 9, so 14yrs old not 4? Let him fgs it's all a bit of fun! Surely he'll just do it secretly anyway?

You’re clearly not a football fan. Every chance this is as far as England go, or for likes of OPs son, could be their year and he’ll miss them going through to quarters in one of greatest stadiums 🏟️ in football.

Yep I would let him, go to be early get some sleep, set alarm for 12.50, watch and match, back to bed. Up for school. Always let my DS up late to watch Masters etc, always when to school the next day.

Poor kid. A mother with a whole tree up her ass.

I’d have let mine!