D A D B L O G S
A dad blog by a geek dad with two geeky kids.
My son has a totally different definition of bedtime. He thinks it’s an opportunity for him to organize a slumber party with his siblings. I once asked him why he wasn’t sleeping yet when I told him to go to bed an hour prior, and he told me that he’d gone to bed as I requested, but hasn’t slept because I didn’t exactly tell him to close his eyes and sleep. He was bouncing on his bed as if it was a trampoline and his sisters were giggling. I was so exasperated! But hey, I thought, maybe I should be more creative, especially since I have such a cunning little boy. But of course, I can’t tailor make a rule or punishment just for him. Whatever rue I make must apply to everyone. How to discipline your children when they devise ways to postpone bedtime? What to do when they keep making bathroom trips or find the need for a glass of water when they’re already tucked in bed, or keep telling stories and giggling when they’re already tucked in? Tell them that they don’t need to go to bed that night. Tell them that they can stay up for as long as they like. May I emphasize the word stay up, because they have to stand up facing the wall in separate corners of their room until you tell them that they can return to bed. If this doesn’t work, make them stand or at least stay in separate rooms of the house. If official bedtime is at 9:00 o’clock but your child always finds a way to move it to 9:30, set up a penalty. Everytime he or she fails to be in bed on time, tell him or her that she has to get into bed 5 or 10 minutes earlier the following evening. And let this rule be a long standing regulation and applicable to every succeeding infraction. If they’ve been good however, reward them with a 5 or 10-minute extension before bedtime, or if they complete the week, give them an extra hour up beyond bedtime over the weekend. Comments are closed.
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Hey there. My name is Jim. I'm a dad & I know some dad stuff & I like to write about them here. More about me.
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