Bittersweet sun, how I loved you. And by loved I mean worshipped. And by worshipped I mean in the unhealthiest ways possible.
My love affair with the sun began as a young girl. Growing up in Hawaii, that scorching ball of fire in the sky was a constant companion. Not only did its rays provide me with a luminous glow that made my dingiest white shirts look radiant, but the sun also had a way of warming my inner being.
Our adoration for each other deepened after I moved to the Upper Midwest. (Nine-month long Wisconsin winters will do that.) I cherished our summers together, willingly exposing vast amounts of skin and various bare body parts to the universe’s brightest star.
Then, I had a child and my relationship with the sun changed forever.
The shining globe of fire that I allowed to kiss my skin (sometimes too hard) for years, suddenly became my nemesis. All thanks to a child who refuses to go to bed while the sun is still up.
Parents who have tried desperately to coax and cajole their children into bed on a summer evening when it’s bright as noon outside know what I’m talking about.
My preschooler fights bedtime like a ravenous lion does a Spotted Hyena. They are archenemies, and having my beloved sun shine until nearly 9 p.m. is killing me.
“I can’t go to bed yet,” insisted my young daughter ALL. SUMMER. LONG. “the sun’s still up.”
Damn you sun in all your blazing glory! Don’t you know my kid’s bedtime is 7:30 p.m.?
Closing the shades used to work… when she was two. However, now that she’s about to enter kindergarten, hearing gleeful shouts from older neighborhood kids mixing with soft summer breezes blowing through the open windows is simply too much of a distraction for her.
So I caved.
This summer I have allowed my daughter to stay up until at least 8 p.m. (provided she took an afternoon nap, which typically only happened when was riding in the car), but now with school starting in a couple of weeks she needs a serious reality check.
Experts say in order to get kids back into their regular bedtime routines without causing too much drama, you need to start at least two weeks before the first day of school.
For example, if you’ve been letting your child stay up until 10 p.m. or later during the summer, then you need at least 10 days to get him to readjust to an 8 p.m. bedtime. The best way to achieve this is to make incremental changes. Experts suggest cutting bedtime back 30 minutes at a time, for two nights in a row, until you’re back at your usual go-to-bed time range. Basically, if your child has been going to bed at 10 p.m., change it to 9:30 p.m. for two nights, then 9 p.m. for two nights, and so on until you are back at your regular school night bedtime.
My daughter starts this plan tomorrow night.
Will my former flame burn me during the process and cause my plan to go up in smoke?
Stay tuned…
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