Summer holidays evenings- how to survive!

[4pmwinetimebebeh]

Our kids are 5 and 8 and are full on (lovely but full on!). We are off a bit, holiday clubs a bit, family help a bit. When with them and after work we eat together, play etc. come 8pm I’m dead and need time to decompress. I work with people all day and need some time to just disengage my brain! But obviously it’s summer and they like to stay up late.
i was thinking of implementing some loose rules of tv until 7:30 then play in bedrooms til 8:30/9 to give DH and I some space. I don’t mind them popping down to show us things/glass of water etc but I struggle being a fully engaged parent until so late as I feel like I get no down time.
How do you do it? Am I being mean and just need to accept I have two kids and get on with it? Do you have rules for the evening to have some space?

Mine are around the same age. They get to stay up late if we have an actual reason (out for tea, at a friend's house, an event), and big one gets to stay up til 9, little one til 8 on Saturday. Otherwise it's business as usual and a 7.30 bedtime. We have to work, they have camps/clubs, otherwise we'd all be grumpy by week 2!

At that age I think that’s perfectly late enough! Mine are 4 and 6, the 6 year old will
pribwnly stay up til 9 occasionally but the 4 year old will be bed at 7.30 as usual

i agree about needing some space from them after a long day 😅

My 8yo is usually awake before 7 whatever time she goes to bed, and in the summer she can have an hour of TV first thing to let me sleep. She therefore goes to bed usual time, lights out no later than 8.30.

I'm hoping to incorporate some outdoor time after dinner, walk, park etc to hopefully make sleep easier.

My son stayed up late when he was younger, if there was a reason - visiting family/day out etc. However, he always had a structured bedtime, the time of year made no difference.

I was mean and didn't let mine stay up often. They still need their sleep and I think it's good for them to have wind down time in bed even if it's reading or drawing or something quiet.

Mine are about the same age. No way would I have a 5YO up until 8.30/9 even in the holidays unless there was actually a purpose to it like going out to dinner or watching a movie as a family. TV until 7.30 fine but then I’d put the youngest to bed and the eldest could stay up another hour doing quiet independent stuff along the lines of lego, colouring, reading.

BAU here with a 6 and 2 year old: they’ll stay up accidentally late if excited – we just went away for the weekend (Friday was inset day) so they had FOMO and just wouldn’t sleep on night one – but it was back to normal routine the night after. Holiday club and nursery tomorrow so bedtime the same as normal.

I think some days it’ll fall apart and the bigger one will stay up later on holiday as she’s sharing a room with the toddler, and some days we’ll have something special on – like going out into the Downs to see the meteor showers in August! – but mostly trying to stick to the school timings. Summer’s magic enough for kids without needing late nights as well, and difficult enough for parents without having that switch-off button.

Just put them to bed as usual. They’re only 5! They need the same amount of sleep as always. They don’t need to be up late every night of the holidays!

My 9 and 11 year old will be in bed reading for 8pm on weeknights during the holidays unless we have something specific planned. Me and DH working full time and the kids will wake up at the same time regardless of bed time so we just stick with the normal routine

7 and 9 here and aim is to be in bed for 8pm on a weeknight, they can read as long as they like in bed or sometimes one DC plays with a few bits in bed. But agree with others that their days are still full on, they still get up by 7 and when we are at holiday club we still need to be up and out of the house at 8:15 so don’t want to totally lose the routines. And agree, I need space in the evening!

Our 9yo and 6yo normally go to bed at 7.30 but can read as long as they want. On Saturdays they go to bed at 8ish.

In the holidays we do more 'Saturday nights' (on other days too) but not every night and not later than 8/8:15pm unless we are out somewhere.

Mine 9 & 11 have normal beds usually. Unless on holiday or a reason etc . We still all get up normalish time. We often let them stay up a bit later but in there rooms.

Yep we do the same. Once they get to 7/8 they can play for a bit before sleep. We do the whole teeth and into bed and read a book routine. We say night night and go down stairs / then they manage to find 101 things to do other than sleep lol. No screens upstairs.