babsi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ll/7523084.stm

*edit* it is for kids on their own, just re-read it but think some of the points are relevant.

This article got me thinking, I feel if I was back come I would be classified as a 'bad mother'.

Summer for me only lasts a few months here, and Kai is 2 and a half and outside playing happily - lots of kids are here. Kai is out playing past 8 and I just feel you have to make the most of it because come November you will probably be rushing to get inside quickly.

I have seen parents put down their kids at 6.30 in England, what time do they eat if they are put down so early?

When the winter is here, Kai will be in bed around 8 each night, I just don't want to waste the time?

What do people think?

AmyDavid

It is talking about little yobs that are allowed by their parents to wander around at all hours on their own when they should be home and in bed.

It is your choice if your 2 year old plays our till late every night - as long as he is with you then that is no problem. If he was wandering around on his own then perhaps people might think you were a bad mother !!

ann m

My thoughts on this come down to basic stuff. Young kids need a good nights's sleep! My two are eight and ten years old - and in order for me not to commit murder, they currently need 8-10 hours of sleep, or they are the grumpy, stroppy kids from hell.

I am also selfish in another regard - I want an hour of two of peace and quiet in an evening - when the children have been 'up and at it' for the whole day, I need 'my' time.

Other kids function well on considerably less sleep - so be it. Mine don't

I am a little disconcerted, I guess, to see 6, 7, and 8 year olds still playing and hanging around at 10 o'clock at night - no matter how nice the weather is. In school holiday time, I guess it doesn't matter if the whole body clock shuffles around a few hours. But in school time, getting up at 7am is a necessity, and being in bed by 8pm highly desired!!!

And both here in Calgary and when I was working in the UK, I just found it a sad reflection on home life that 11, 12, 13 year old kids (boys and girls) were wandering around the streets - and yes, getting into trouble, at 2am. But I guess a lot of home life situations are vastly different from ours

iaink

Up to the parents isnt it, and dependent on how much sleep individual kids need to thrive. I can see the general gistof what they are trying to do, and dont think its a bad idea, altohugh I cant remember how late I used to play out as a kid.

My 5 year old has to be up at 7 during term time to make it to school on time (8.15 start), so during schooltime shes in bed at around 6:30 or 7 at the latest. Without a whopping 12 hours sleep she is just miserable. To answer your question, that means supper is at 4:30!

Kind of sucks, but it would be worse still if she had to catch the bus...that picks up at 7am!

Her 2 1/2 year old sister needs a lot less that that (although she still takes afternoon naps most days), so we will probably be cut some slack when the time comes.

Now school is out we are OK with both of them being up till 9, although in for a bath and stories long before 8, and the older one sleeps in till about 8ish, usually at least an hour after her little sister is up and going.

moondevil

i am with ann m and iaink with this

i have 3, my little one will stay have a nap in the afternoon although she is 3, if we goto friends she gets to stay up late, but she will get a cushion and fall asleep anywhere

If my three yr old gets tired she just goes to sleep.
My kids are normally up for 7 in term time so the 2 younger ones goto be at 7.30 to 8 and my 10 yr old by 8.30-9pm

We beleive that as parents you need some time at night for us, but sadly around here they let the kids play the streets till 11-12 and sometimes later if it is hot outside :curse:
Kids need there sleep.
i read in the paper the other day that police in certain areas are giving out McD's and discount cards to kids that are good
ill find the link

moondevil

Yeah got it - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-20670438/

Butch Cassidy

moondevil

What bribe them not with mcd's

noooooo with a chippy tea

Butch Cassidy

Pudin pays chipsn greyvi

babsi

For example Kai went to bed at 9 last night and is still sleeping and he will probably sleep 12+ hours.

I went to be bed at 11 last night so we had 2 hours on our own and got up at 7 this morning and will have around 2 hours on my own. I am quite happy with that.

joelsa

I wouldn't say it was selfish at all. You need that time for your sanity!!!

My 3 are 8, 5 & 3 and it's a long day sometimes, especially in the school holidays.
The trouble i have with mine is getting them into bed & asleep early enough while it's still so light outside.

Sure i put them to bed at resonable times(and i'm quite strict) but then we have a good hour of mucking about, in & out of bed, asking for more water etc. They also see other kids STILL out playing who are the same ages, which doesn't help.
Then they're awake before 7 again the next morning.
Consequently i have grumpy little wotsits to contend with the next day and sometimes a grumpy Mummy too!

Does anyone know where i can get Blackout lining for the windows?

I don't have a problem in the Winter

dingbat

Black-out wooden blinds are what I installed. Home Depot have them. White wood or faux wood, from memory. I believe that the manufacturer differentiates between black-out, privacy, sun screen blinds etc. The black out fabric just makes ( a non air conditioned) room stifling hot, as I discovered when I lined a pair of kids curtains for the same reason you want to.

iaink

We bought PVC roll down blinds (from sears I think) for the kids bedrooms, no light gets through.

For the curtains in the front of the house we cheaped out and bought some landscaping cloth ($20 for a big roll) and improvised a lining for the existing curtains with that

Tanah

I have to agree with Anne M too, I have 2 kids ages 11 and 9 - my 11 year old gets up at 4.30 3 mornings a week and skates before school, on these nights he is in bed by 8pm latest, on normal nights he is in bed by 9pm latest My daughter goes at 7.30 weeknights and 8 - 8.30 weekends. These times are school time specific.
During summer holidays they both stay up later ( apart from skating nights) but eldest still in bed by 10pm or is a horrid monster the next day and my daughter is a whiney pain in the butt
I like my " relaxing" timein a evening when they have gone to bed