One of the realities of family life is that it is very rare that two people actually have the same biological clocks–sleep and waking patterns, times of the day when energy waxes and wanes–getting a houseful of individuals with different natural clocks is one of the daily challenges of family life.
In our household, we have early risers, and late sleepers, and night owls, and those of us (okay, me) who need that afternoon nap to really feel our best! I think if someone was to keep track of how much of the time everyone is actually asleep at the same time (and that is NOT including the two cats), it would probably amount to about 3 or 4 hours a day. I know when I was first embarking on parenting, I had a fantasy that life could and would be orderly and scheduled–we’d all get up together and have breakfast, go about our days, come together for supper, and then bedtime would be an organized, organic end of the day. Okay, how Utopian was I?!
In reality, it is rare that everyone wants to eat and sleep at the same time. There are is often someone up at 5:30 a.m. working on homework, and someone else up until 1:00 a.m.; the kitchen seems to never close, and there is absolutely no way everyone is going to be up for an early breakfast at the same time (I think that is why brunch was really invented.) As the mom and matriarch, I try to get up early and stay up late enough that I at least get to spend a little time with each of my offspring every day–but that does not mean that anything is happening according to my schedule. In fact, everything is happening according to everyone’s schedules!
See Also: Creating Child Friendly Homes
What do You Think Family Friendly Means?
How Important is it to Keep the Peace?