Anyone elses spouse let the kids go wild when you are gone?

[preshi]

So the kids bedtimes are 7:00pm for the little one and 7:00pm for the big one with 7:30 being lights out. So I run to the mall at 6:45 to return something, kids are being fed at that point. I return at 7:50 to find both kids running around crazy and my husband pre occupied on the phone with the fish people. ( Our anenome looks like its about to kick the bucket)

Why is it so hard to stick to a schedule??? Now the big one is in the tub and finally the little one is down but I KNOW the big one isn't going to go to sleep until 9, I can just feel it! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I guess I can no longer go anywhere until after the kids are in bed! Not to mention it looks like they destroyed the house in the meantime! Someone get me a stiff drink!

 

[megan4777]

My Dh is "usually" pretty good about putting the girls down on time. He wants to play playstation so they need to be sleeping for that to happen.

I get frustrated b/c DH doesn't know where I keep the kid's clothes. I swear he's asked me at least 10 times in the last few months where their clothes are (sometimes calling me on my cell while I'm out with a friend).
Apparently that DRESSER that has the changing table on top isn't the obvious answer. Nevermind the fact that we've been using that dresser since DD#1 was a newborn...almost 3 yrs ago!!

Take a nice relaxing bath after you get the kids in bed

 

[OceanAnnie]

You are not alone! Ugh. It's the crazy mess that gets to me the most! It never gets that bad when it's just me and the kids.

 

[tmt martins]

So you know this is going to happen and yet you still go out

All we do all day is plot to undermine the years of structer you are trying to instill in our future generations.

No JK really I am we just don't get it that 9:00pm is not 9:30 pm like when we have to be at the movies and your looking for that belt that the pants you have on only goes with.

Pick the right battles and you will win the war.

 

[preshi]

So you know this is going to happen and yet you still go out

All we do all day is plot to undermine the years of structer you are trying to instill in our future generations.

No JK really I am we just don't get it that 9:00pm is not 9:30 pm like when we have to be at the movies and your looking for that belt that the pants you have on only goes with.

Pick the right battles and you will win the war.

Hey I wasn't picking on men I said spouse! It just seems my DH is preoccupied with his stuff so the kids get 'neglected'

BTW I am ALWAYS on time. I dont dawdle like some people do so it makes me crazy when other people are late. I'm OCD like that.

I do pick my battles which is why I vented here and told my biggest kid nicely that we needed to stick to a schedule. Plus he made me dinner so I really can't yell at him too much

 

[daisyduck123]

My kids don't run crazy when I'm gone...but when I get home from Bunco late at night (almost midnite), I find DH asleep on the couch, the kids still up watching t.v., & an almost empty bowl of popcorn in the kitchen which the kids tell me was their dinner!!

 

[Michie]

One time the DH took our DD to town...in her backyard shoes and her play clothes

 

[SandiH]

One time the DH took our DD to town...in her backyard shoes and her play clothes

OMG -the Horror!!!!!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

So the kids bedtimes are 7:00pm for the little one and 7:00pm for the big one with 7:30 being lights out. So I run to the mall at 6:45 to return something, kids are being fed at that point. I return at 7:50 to find both kids running around crazy and my husband pre occupied on the phone with the fish people. ( Our anenome looks like its about to kick the bucket)

Why is it so hard to stick to a schedule??? Now the big one is in the tub and finally the little one is down but I KNOW the big one isn't going to go to sleep until 9, I can just feel it! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I guess I can no longer go anywhere until after the kids are in bed! Not to mention it looks like they destroyed the house in the meantime! Someone get me a stiff drink!

7pm bedtime! wow how do you get them to go to bed when its still light out?

My 2 yo DD won't go to sleep for DH. He's called me a few times frustrated that she's screaming , Mommy Mommy. But eventually she goes to sleep. I have to lay out clothes and give specific instructions when I go somewhere or its not a pretty sight when I return.

 

[decaff38]

Now when I have to go out of town my big(16 &18) girls whine," Don't leave us with him!" He always asks them to make him something to eat and calls their cells every hour when they are gone. He drives them nuts. Nice to know I'm apprecieated.

 

[luvflorida]

Now when I have to go out of town my big(16 &18) girls whine," Don't leave us with him!" He always asks them to make him something to eat and calls their cells every hour when they are gone. He drives them nuts. Nice to know I'm apprecieated.

This sounds like my fifteen year old daughter and her dad! She complains that he constantly asks her stuff! She says he's always asking her what she's supposed to be doing. "Are you supposed to be on the computer?" "Shouldn't you be doing homework?" "What are we going to do for dinner?"

 

[mickeyboat]

DH does this on occasion. Most of the time the worst of it is that they fall asleep with him on the couch (they are almost always more than ready fall asleep at 8PM, no matter where they are). If I leave them alone for several hours, I can usually count on there being a huge mess upstairs - because they are being quite and leaving him alone while the tornado flies through the playroom.

He also can't seem to get them clothes, either. He knows where they are, but he claims he doesn't know what matches, so he can't dress them. Whatever!

I have to give him a lot of credit, though. When I went to Paris for a week, I came home to a sparkling house with all the laundry done.

Denae

 

[tw1nsmom]

My DH is a great dad, but he has a slightly different sense of time than I do. I can definitely picture the same thing happening in my house. However, if he isn't distracted, he's very good about following the routine. He will, however, at times forget to feed them. He says that they're six now...it's up to them to tell him when they're hungry, and if they don't, they don't eat. Oh well, I guess it hones their survival instinct.

BTW, my kids start getting ready for bed at seven also. For the person who asked about how they go to sleep when it's light out, it just becomes routine. I also put blackout shades in their room, which helps. There's no way they could stay up until it's dark outside this time of year. They wouldn't be in bed until 9pm. They have to be up at 6am to get ready for school. That's just not enough sleep for a six year old (at least not mine...they really need their sleep). Starting next week, when school's out, they'll start staying up a little later, but their bedtime will still be fairly early unless we're doing something special.

 

[Buckalew11]

I know you aren;t picking on men but often it seems like men are the most guilty of this very problem. Even now, DD is 12 (and knows what time to go to bed), if Dad will let her get away with it, she'll wait and stay up. It hardly ever fails.

I have always followed a schedule with bedtimes (& naps when she napped). Kids need sleep and are cranky w/o it. Usually, I can be around kids for a few minutes and know who needs more sleep! LOL Anyway, your DH isn't the only one who needs a wrist watch for father's day with a BEDTIME alarm set in it!! LOL

 

[Buckalew11]

BTW, my kids start getting ready for bed at seven also. For the person who asked about how they go to sleep when it's light out, it just becomes routine. I also put blackout shades in their room, which helps. There's no way they could stay up until it's dark outside this time of year. They wouldn't be in bed until 9pm. They have to be up at 6am to get ready for school. That's just not enough sleep for a six year old (at least not mine...they really need their sleep). Starting next week, when school's out, they'll start staying up a little later, but their bedtime will still be fairly early unless we're doing something special.

This is what I did. People would ask me that very question all the time & I'd tell them about the shade (which worked). This past school year DD's bedtime was finally 9. And she gets up on her own and gets ready with no problem so I feel like 9 works for her. Now, if I could just make a bedtime for myself!

 

[Maleficent13]

He will, however, at times forget to feed them. He says that they're six now...it's up to them to tell him when they're hungry, and if they don't, they don't eat. Oh well, I guess it hones their survival instinct.

I'm sorry, but this made me

 

[Chilehead Too]

I understand all too well We call it the daddy hero syndrome here.

 

[tmt martins]

Hey I wasn't picking on men I said spouse! It just seems my DH is preoccupied with his stuff so the kids get 'neglected'

BTW I am ALWAYS on time. I dont dawdle like some people do so it makes me crazy when other people are late. I'm OCD like that.

I do pick my battles which is why I vented here and told my biggest kid nicely that we needed to stick to a schedule. Plus he made me dinner so I really can't yell at him too much

Yes I was just kidding as well I'm the one that lectures DW for keeping DD out shopping at night .I have to get them up neither can get up with an alarm clock just my nagging wakes them.When I go away DW has to put her Nextel next to the bed and I have to Direct connect her to wake her.

Now I do let DD skip a bath here or there and just get her up a bit earlier to take it in the morning.

Once camping when she was 8 or 9 we went the entire weekend without a shower it was only 2 days and the pool we were at was so high in cloreen our tans turned white( dn 18 or 19 was right there with us as well).

When we got home DD couldn't wait to tell DW DAD didn't make me wash all weekend .Boy did it get it for that one.

 

[EthansMom]

My husband is a pretty great dad overall, but there are times when he tends to "forget" about the kids.

When we're all going out as a family, DH will get himself all ready to go (clothes, shoes, etc.) and then say, "I'm ready to go. Come on, let's go!" even though our preschooler and toddler are still running around in their jammies. I've had to explain several times that if the kids aren't ready, he's not ready. It's not too fair of him to get himself ready and then get all huffy while he WAITS for me to take care of myself AND the kids.

And when it comes to bedtime, the kids would probably be up until 9:30 or 10 p.m. if I didn't get them ready for bed and/or request specific help from DH ("Could you please help the kids brush their teeth while I pick out books to read to them?").

Funny enough, DH does better when I'm not around. He picks up the house, feeds the kids at a good time, and gets them down for naps/bedtime on time. It's just when I'm around, DH uses me as a crutch.

 

[minkydog]

My kids don't run crazy when I'm gone...but when I get home from Bunco late at night (almost midnite), I find DH asleep on the couch, the kids still up watching t.v., & an almost empty bowl of popcorn in the kitchen which the kids tell me was their dinner!!

And I'll bet a good time was had by all

I used to get worked up about this kind of small stuff when my kids were little. Now I'm older &wiser and I wish I had spent less time getting steamed about bedtimes and more time being grateful to my DH for the things he does to make our home a happy one.

OP, this too shall pass...all too soon