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

[BlackTulipss]

Is this unreasonable?
Apparently "every other mum" is letting their school year 9 kid watch the 1am match tonight and phone in sick to school tomorrow morning then go in at lunch.
I've said no to staying up to watch it. Starts at 1am, it will go on till 3:30am, or later if extra time!
DS has to get up at 6:30 for school.
DH says let him, keeps going on about once every 4 years experience, it's only 1 night, etc. And he says it will be the final England match - they'll be knocked out by Mexico tonight so there will be no other England games to watch after tonight.
DS badly needs his sleep and at 14 he still needs a solid 11 hours to function.
Is anyone else letting their DC watch it live tonight?
AIBU?

I initially said no to my son (year 10) but I will probably relent as it’s quite important to him, he won’t be allowed in late though, if he wants to do it he still has to be at 7 to go to school.

He's 14, please don't be that parent. I wasn't allowed to watch certain things my mum didn't like and it really "others" you when everyone is discussing it. Tell him he needs to go to bed at 9/10 and then wake him at 1am (or make your husband do it). No need to stay up till 1 before hand. Yes, he'll be tired, but it's the end of term. Everyone is going to be tired tomorrow. I promised you he won't thank you for denying him.

I don't like soccer at all, and the matches of 1988 and 1990 are core memories for me.

Its the shared experience, excitement that makes it core, whatever the result.

In 1969, when I was 14, my Mum didn't let me stay up to watch the moon landing. Nearly 60 years later, I have never forgiven her! These historic moments in our shared lives are important not just at the time, but for many years to come. When people are reminiscing about the match in twenty years' time, your son will have to say, oh, my Mum wouldn't let me stay up to watch it . Don't be that spoilsport!

FYI for the poster saying core memorys aren't a thing for sports

I remember being woken up for many boxing matches over my childhood, because it was a big thing for my parents - am I interested? no - Did i love the wake up call, snacks, pop, parents friends and family around whilst I got to wake up in the middle of the night, 100%

Do I remember the matches? no. I remember the moment and the vibe though!

Yep. So most Y9 kids will hopefully have many more World Cups in their lives.

He's right, given they're playing at altitude and not acclimatised, it may be their last outing.
Let him watch. No reason to stay off school either.

We're watching it, year 8 child here. I told them they would absolutely be going to school as normal though, a tired day won't kill them.

Turns out the school are letting them come in at 11 am anyway so that's a bonus

Mine is Year 7 & will be watching it live. He is going to bed early tonight, getting up around 12.30 then back to bed when it finishes. He will be going to school on Monday though!

Tbf, his older brothers probably won't watch it. 15 is not interested & has epilepsy, so lack of sleep likely to cause seizures. 17 not interested in this game, has just started big job & wants to be on good form for that.

One lovely memory from my childhood is when I was 7, Torville & Dean had their big Bolero in the Winter Olympics. They were expected to do well. It aired in the middle of the night, so my parents woke us all up & we brought our duvets downstairs & snuggled up together to watch it. It felt really special 😍

I’d be telling him if he wants to set an alarm and watch he can but he’ll need to get up for school. And keep the noise down.

Wouldn’t he just watch it on a phone or something else anyway?

I think 14 is plenty old enough for them to make their own decision and face the natural consequences.

Therefore my year 9 is more than welcome to stay up and watch the match. He doesn’t have a bedtime anyway, he’s too old for that. But, I will not be calling school for him in the morning. He either makes it to school on time but very tired, or he goes in late and faces the consequences of detention.

Let him watch it. What's the worst that can happen? He's tired in school for one day. He can go to bed earlier on Monday night.

I'm sorry, what??? 11hrs??? Thats not healthy. Up to 8hrs. More than that is actually as unhealthy as too little sleep. He's not 10.

This reminds me of when I started clubbing at 16. I was allowed to go out on a Thursday as long as went to college on the Friday - those were some rough days but I did it!

For secondary school, I think you let them. They’ll soon work out if they can cope and then get to school.
For primary age, it’s too late and unless they take the next day off it’s too much (probably still is even if they’re off school).

I'd let him stay up but explain that it is business as usual the following day. He wouldn't be the first 14 year old to survive a day on very little sleep but I wouldn't go along with the "sick" until lunch time idea. I'd be letting him meet the natural consequences of staying up late watching football, not erasing that by sleeping in.

I would let him. I can't see England winning this one. Playing the hosting nation at their own ground, that also happens to be at altitude? It's been a decent run, but it's not coming home this year.

If your DS usually getting 11 hours and he's waking up at 6am he must be asleep by 7pm. Get his Dad to let him sleep until just before 1am, get him up for kick off, watch the game, then get some more sleep before getting up for school.

Sure he's going to be tired, but that's the price he's going to be paying, along with many others of his cohort.

I had exactly the same experience with the boxing. My dad would wake me up and make me a hot chocolate and we'd watch the fight together then I would go back to bed. Do I remember the fights? Nope. But the core happy memories of spending that quality time with my dad have never left me.

When I was 14 I was going clubbing on a Thursday night, getting in and having 2 hours of sleep before school 😂 as you can see I had a laid back didn't care Mother

It is a once in 4 years thing, it’s the end of the school year so they won’t miss much anyway. Sometimes real life is more important than school.
Also year 9, so they’re 14? Surely they can cope with one late night?

Mines y7 and me and DH have discussed with him what they want to do, and they’ve decided they may make up the sofa bed downstairs and sort of try and go to bed early, set an alarm for the match and then attempt to get another hour or so after. However, there will be no going in late to school.

Just watch the game and go to school and tell him he has to go to school. What a wimp to expect a morning off!!!

Same - I can’t imagine being ticked up in bed for 7. My dc didn’t even do that at age 5 😅

Let him stay up for goodness sake. This memory will stay with him forever. Get some nice snacks and things in for him as well.
If we had made it this far (Scotland) I can assure you every kid in the country would be staying up.

I don't care in the slightest about football, but I'd let him. One off exciting things like this are the things kids really remember. Send him to bed early so he can wake up for the match, he'll be tired the next day but he'll get over it!

I reckon about 70% of the kids that reckon they are staying up for this will fall asleep during the game, even more if kick off is delayed due to the likely thunderstorm.