Routines and sleep

Getting the kids ready for bed tonight, I started thinking about routines.  It's funny, because (at least, to us) structure and routines are essential parts of raising kids, but they are also the very hardest part.  Especially consistency.  It's something I really struggle with, and I know I'm not alone on this. 

It's so hard to figure out exactly where to draw the line with behavior, especially when your kids are constantly testing you to find out what they can get away with and what they can't.  So, that part is very much a work in progress.  I lecture too much and go to our 1, 2, 3, timeout system far more slowly than I should.  Or, I do both at the same time, which is even worse.   I also point out negative behaviors far more than positive ones, although I'm working hard to change that, and I'm sure I could mention a million other works in progress in the parenting department.

However, one thing I am proud of is the sleep routines we've established for our kids, and therefore for our family.  We get up at the same time every day (mostly thanks to our early-rising son and Sacha's early schedule at school), we have naptime or rest time at the same time, and we all have dinner and then the kids have playtime and go to bed at nearly the exact same time every night.  It's nice for them because (in my opinion) kids need structure, and they always know what to expect in terms of rest or sleep time during the day and night. 

I try to fill up our days with fun and cool stuff, but we always do have the pillars of waking up, taking a rest, and going to bed to bookend things.  It's also really, really nice for Sacha and me to know that between 7 and 7:30 pm every night, the kids will be in bed and (hopefully) going to sleep.  Once we FINALLY transitioned baby Mateo to an actual bedtime - and believe me, it was an epic battle - we realized what a magical thing it was.  An evening for ourselves and only for ourselves?  Sign us up!  When Natalia was born, she was, first of all, a much easier sleeper, but we also focused more on getting her on a schedule from early on.  And, now that the kids are sharing a room, they're both sleeping better at night.  It's so cute to see them comforted by each other, even if they do occasionally stay up late gabbing away. 

Anyway, this is nothing earth-shaking, but I am all about early bedtimes for our kids and am hoping to keep it that way for a long time to come.  Both of them need to be well-rested to function during the day, and the 7 pm bedtime seems to work for them.  When they go down later, they tend to wake up earlier, or at least Mateo does.  I think Tali would happily sleep later in the morning, but it's just impossible with her brother around!   Although many, many, (way too) many well-meaning people have suggested that a later bedtime would mean a later waking time for him, it's just not true.  If anything, he wakes up earlier and way overtired, which derails our day before it starts.

I know they won't always go down at 7, but I hope we can carve out an evening for ourselves for as long as that's possible.  And, I imagine that by the time the kids are older and going to bed later, that they will be much more self-contained and busy with doing their own thing a lot of the time, so we won't be quite so exhausted at the end of the day (somebody, tell me this is true!).   As well, I certainly don't mean this as what works for us should work for everybody...just that sleep routines have been crucial for us so far and I think they will continue to be.  

Also, today is apparently de-lurking day, so if you're out there reading this, it would be great if you could leave a comment!  We think this blog is mostly read by family and friends, but we'd love to hear if anyone else out there is following along.