Heather – Teenagers and Bedtime

I’m having trouble posting a response too for some reason. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been trying to say. 🙂

I’ve always looked at bedtimes as another step in training my children to be adults and manage their time and bodies themselves. So at a certain point, depending on the child, she starts going to bed independently. She still “checks in” with me to get a hug and say “good night,” but then she goes to her bedroom and reads or sleeps, depending on whether it’s lights out time. I think it’s an important life skill to help our children learn to discern how much sleep each one’s body needs ( which may be different between them), when would be the best time to get to sleep (depending on what was done today and what is scheduled for tomorrow), and actually disciplining yourself to get to bed at that good time. It’s a process — with lots of natural consequences to help reinforce it.

So congratulations! It sounds like you are taking this next step in training your son to be a wise man.