To let my 7 year old stay up to watch the England game?

[moryn]

9pm kick off tonight, the first England game of the World Cup.

I have some great memories from the World Cup when I was a child. It’s once every four years…

Should I, or is it ridiculous?

From memory I allowed my primary aged children to stay up and they just bailed out by half time ! This was about 16 -20 years ago .

Yes you should!!! I used to absolutely love doing this as a child, it felt so special and everyone would be talking about it in school the next day. I’m looking forward to mine being old enough to do this (if they’re football mad like me and my partner) but at 2 and 11 months they currently don’t give a shite 😂

One late night is fine.

My ds who takes sleep meds due to disabilities is staying up, I even cleared it with sleep clinic because of the change in his meds time and school- both thought I was crazy if I didn't!

Your ds may only be little but it might be something he remembers for the rest of his life! Get some paper plates and snacks etc have a fantastic time, make the memories.

Mine is. He watched quite a few of the evening games since far & hasn't been a struggle to get him up for school either. He is just 8 & year 3

Did you see Mamdani signed an order abolishing bedtime for NY kids for the Knicks games. So cute.

I’m obsessed with routine but have waved it for things like midnight sun, Aurora borealis and that sort of thing. If football is your thing, do.

All 3 England games are 9pm / 10pm kick off (the 10pm game is a Saturday though) so technically not "just" one late night.

Tomorrow is Thursday not Friday.

@didntlikeanyofthesuggestions

lol do you feel the same about all sports?

I promised DD she could stay up and watch it too.. she’s 6.. but she’s also off school this week due to her having an operation so the late bedtime isn’t an issue 🤣

I would have let her anyway though 👀

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Absolutely 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I think it may be noisy outside tonight. I’m sure my neighbours will be having a football party with an outside tv!

I'm not letting 10 year old stay up. Not that he's asked to but if he did want to I can't imagine letting him. DH is out helping run the bar at the cricket club as they are anticipating a busy night and I won't be watching it so he'd be sitting up late on his own.

Although would probably lose interest about 20 minutes in anyway.

On the sofa in pyjamas with a quilt or sleeping bag. He might well fall asleep. I don't suppose he'll be the only one in his class to have stayed up.

There are some children with the Tartan Army in Boston.
I'm not in favour of taking kids out of school for 2 weeks in Benidorm, but this looks like a really great experience, and a lovely dad and son bonding time.

(I know Scottish schools break up earlier, but I don't think they've broken up yet, have they?)

Sorry everyone - today is WEDNESDAY which means the English children have school for two more days and the Scottish children have a game in TWO days. Apparently I am wishing this week away. Won't let me edit either of my incorrect posts.

No, still in school until next week. I'm sure of that even if I don't know what day it is.

I was working in a school last World Cup, and it was a nightmare because so many really young children stayed up. Behaviour in school off the scale, tears constantly. No way would I let a young child stay up. It’s just football

I’m torn. DS is 6 quite often doesn’t go to sleep until 9.30/10 and is fine in the morning. But he’s normally in bed at least from 8.30. I’m going to see how tired he is today and take a view but I suspect my DH may veto it.

We let ours wake up to watch Scotland and they’re 5/6. They can watch them till we get knocked out. Also their grandad is there so they’re very excited to see if they can see him on the telly (doubt it, but still). We put them to bed and then wake them up to watch then back to bed. They’re a bit cranky in the mornings but it’s not like Scotland will make the final or anything so let them enjoy it while it lasts. DD asked if she could watch them at the pub 😭 that one was a hard no.

No not technically one night but if the OPs 7 yo is a nightmare to get up in the morning, struggles to get through tomorrow without being an overtired mess she can re evaluate the other 2 games and make a different decision

If he falls asleep at his desk I would bet he wouldn't be the only one, most schools will be anticipating sleepiness associated with the match and be ready to make adjustments!

Phew, I was feeling quite mean there initially as the pp had both said yes! My thinking is that he’s only 7. He’ll only be 11 at the next one, so stick young enough to be excited.

More importantly, it’s only a group stage match. They won’t lose if they go out. As the tournament progress and we get closer to the end of term (if England are still in it, of course!) then I think we’d certainly let him stay up.

You have to ask, if a once in a 4 year period isn't an excuse for a little late bedtime, then wtf is ?

Thanks for that lovely story.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/02/zohran-mamdani-bedtimes-new-york-knicks-nba-finals

I think Scottish parents would happily swap! The 9pm games will be over before midnight, that's not terribly late for a one-off.

Super kid dependent though - my daughter is autistic so didn't cope well with disruption at that age. My son has never needed much sleep so wouldn't be bothered by a late one.

I’d let him stay up. What on earth is he learning at school at 7 that is that important. It’s a lovely thing for kids to be part of. He’ll be fine.