Our Nightly Routine

Four kids. Some days I still wonder what we were thinking and how I’m gonna make it until the end of the day.

That, my friends, is one of the reasons we have what is considered an “early bedtime” in our house.

7:00 P.M.

Yes, it’s still light out in the summer at 7. That’s ok. By 7:00 I’m so ready to check out and just take a breath.

Usually the baby Mars is still awake, but I’m trying to get him into a routine right along his brothers and sister. At 9 months, he’s pretty chill anyway. Just crawls around and chews on stuff until he’s tired and wants to nurse.

My kids also wake up as early as 5:30 and almost NEVER later than 7.

I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON.

“They wake up so early because they go to bed so early!” Yeah, we’ve heard that one before – a lot. But no, Pam, They will still wake up by 7 if they go to bed at midnight. Been there, done that.

So how do I achieve this early bedtime?

Well, practice. I still occasionally struggle with 4 year old Bear, who likes to try and negotiate at bed time. And 2 year old Sunshine will get out of bed and talk to us from under her door every so often. But for the most part (besides the nightly tired bickering between the oldest two boys) it goes pretty smoothly.

We eat dinner a little late, because we really like to do it as a family and sometimes The Daddy doesn’t get home from work until later. We might watch a show, do a quiet activity, or just send them upstairs a little early and do a little extra reading time.

My oldest, Dash (7), is a big reader. He powered through the entire first Magic Tree House series and started on the Merlin’s Missions over the summer at age 6.

He also enjoys Legos, and yes, a little Netflix. So evening quiet time for him isn’t a huge struggle. I do ask that he picks up his room while I’m working on getting the other three to bed. We usually tuck him in last because he really likes to have deep conversations about the meaning of life late at night. Then he always offers to fill my water bottle and it makes him feel like he is getting to stay up a little later than everyone else. It’s the little things.

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So here’s the simple list:

• Vitamin (Before starting Plexus, we used Smarty Pants Brand gummy vitamins and probiotics. Now The kids take XFactor Kids which is a combo of the two and has no added sugar!)
• Brush teeth (we recently discovered this delicious fluoride-free toothpaste that the kids love)
• LAST drink of water
• Go potty
• Pick out a book (or two if your room is clean)
• Climb in bed and wait for Mom and Dad
• Hugs and kisses, prayers, “I love you”s and “goodnight”s

It’s always a goal for us to have both parents do bedtime as often as possible.

And of course, Marvel (our “young-adult” bonus son) always comes upstairs in the evening and we get our goodnight hugs from him as well. I love that he still wants to hug us goodnight.

That’s it.

After lots of practice, my kids are pretty used to this routine. Most nights, shortly after 7, I get a little while to breathe and spend time with The Daddy if he’s home before I pass out from exhaustion and do the whole thing again the next day.

What does your nightly routine look like? Do you actually have one or do you just hope for the best and thank your lucky stars if you get them in bed by 10? No judgement!

P.S. Have you checked out the fun parody music video [“When is it time for bed?”] that I made with the kids yet?

You can see it on YouTube or my Facebook Page