Summer Vacation and kids sleeping all day!

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Sounds like a bunch of inactive kids to me.

Mine always had a sports camp or guitar lessons in the summer-or were swimming in someone's pool.
No way I would let them sleep until noon-I can't imagine how these kids's bodies and sleep patterns adjust when school starts!

I agree. My three kids are 12, 10 and 8 and no way are they up until all hours of the night. We relax the bedtime a bit, not much as we are probably busier during the summer then school. I really see no reason a 12, 13 or 14 y/o should be up until 3am and sleeping until noon.

Kids need rest, period. I prefer my kids to get theirs at night time.

 

[Magic Mom]

DD10 is an early riser like me. She is up by 8am at the latest (most days by 7am.) This summer she has to be anyway, because of the riding summer academy she attends, and because to help earn that academy, she has double the chores around the house. Her bedtime during the summer is around 10, but if she has friends over for a sleepover or there is a movie she wants to see, I can be flexible.

DS17 almost 18, sleeps a little later, but I won't let him sleep all day. I expect him to get up and be productive (chores, running, getting ready to leave for college, yard work, reading or even hanging out with friends). This summer he can stay up as late as he likes, as long as he gets up before around 10am-1030. He usually goes to bed around 1230am or 1. Lately he can't sleep ( I think is nerves about college) so he stays up a little later.

I don't see enforcing a light schedule during the summer as controlling, I see it as parenting. We all decide what's important for our own family.

 

[islandmum]

I see no reason why it isn't. They have their whole lives to have to be on a "schedule" when they're in the real world.

The thought of telling my (gonna be 14 in 2 weeks) y/o "Bedtime!, lights and TV off!" makes me laugh!

What TV do you think kids are watching late at night that isn't appropriate? My youngest has on Nick at Night and is currently enjoying George Lopez. He also told me starting July 5th, Malcolm in the Middle will be on. I'm looking forward to staying up late, once that starts, too!

And the video games? They're linked up to their friends via the internet, which leads me to believe those kids are all up, too.


...and everything else you said:

well you'll think I'm mad then .... our kids do not and will not have TV or computers in their bedrooms, they have no video games and I will never buy them either. They are limited to TV from when they wake up until breakfast time, and then after their schoolwork for 1 1/2 hours in the evening - weekends they can watch more and if its a washout day too. The rest of the time they play, talk, build things, read, do sports, eating dinner as a family, talking to us, whatever. We interact - we dont all split up into our seperate areas and withdraw from the family.

They have a bedtime, which as they are young we adhere to within 1/2 hour or so, and when they will be teenagers they will also have a bedtime - much later of course - but there will be a limit. Weekends are far more flexible though and I'm not too worried about the time as long as its before 10.30 as we are often out weekend nights with them.

I cant stand seeing kids who spend their lives either in their beds or sitting glued to a computer game making friends with some other elf lord in cyberspace, or some 7 year old fixated on a gameboy for hours on end ...

and before the excuses start, we all managed without Nintendo DS's stuck 2 inches from our eyeballs, cellphones stapled to our ears all day long, or the internet available to us at 1 o'clock in the morning ...... its not exactly a hardship.

 

[Aisling]

Just out of curiosity, those of you who said your kids sleep all day (like until dinner time) and play video games all night (because they aren't allowed outside after dark), don't you want your kids to be physically active at all?
It just sounds like an unhealthy lifestyle. It doesn't bother me, or affect me at all, I'm just wondering----sort of thinking out loud here.

Videogames is not all my son does. He does this during the night hours when he can't be outside. If he gets up at, say 3 in the afternoon, he's out the door by 4 to meet his friends at the handball court, where he'll usually be until dark with the neighborhood teens.

 

[CathrynRose]

well you'll think I'm mad then .... our kids do not and will not have TV or computers in their bedrooms, they have no video games and I will never buy them either. They are limited to TV from when they wake up until breakfast time, and then after their schoolwork for 1 1/2 hours in the evening - weekends they can watch more and if its a washout day too. The rest of the time they play, talk, build things, read, do sports, eating dinner as a family, talking to us, whatever. We interact - we dont all split up into our seperate areas and withdraw from the family.

Considering we were discussing 1am video games in the summer - and I'm usually in bed by then, I don't see how this is 'withdrawn' from the family. Heck, since both my boys are with their own friends during the day, it's brother bonding time in my home.

They have a bedtime, which as they are young we adhere to within 1/2 hour or so, and when they will be teenagers they will also have a bedtime - much later of course - but there will be a limit. Weekends are far more flexible though and I'm not too worried about the time as long as its before 10.30 as we are often out weekend nights with them. 10:30? My oldest is 18. You think he should be in bed before his curfew? I'm up later than 10:30!

I cant stand seeing kids who spend their lives either in their beds or sitting glued to a computer game making friends with some other elf lord in cyberspace, or some 7 year old fixated on a gameboy for hours on end ... At least in my case, no one said they were.

and before the excuses start, we all managed without Nintendo DS's stuck 2 inches from our eyeballs, cellphones stapled to our ears all day long, or the internet available to us at 1 o'clock in the morning ...... its not exactly a hardship.Excuses? To make excuses to you, would mean I think you're right, and what works for my family is wrong. And it's funny - look at how many of us post DAILY on here, are somehow against technology for our own kids. It's the same thing.

See Above

A PP poster mentioned inactive kids? Nope. Not at all. I'd venture to say my 18 y/o is in better shape than all of us put together. He spends all day (once he's up - which today was about 1/2 an hour ago) running around with his friends. Football, swimming, etc etc.

My 14 y.o (who is still sleeping) also spends all day riding his bike around town with his friends, back and forth, from house to house, for different activities.

Just because they're sleeping late, doesn't mean they're sleeping their life away. They're just sleeping late.

Again - I don't see the big deal, at all - what so ever. But that's just me.

 

[CathrynRose]

Videogames is not all my son does. He does this during the night hours when he can't be outside. If he gets up at, say 3 in the afternoon, he's out the door by 4 to meet his friends at the handball court, where he'll usually be until dark with the neighborhood teens.

Bingo.

 

[Ohiodislover]

My kids might sleep till 1 or 2, but as SOON as there awake, they do their chores, and are at the pool within an hour. They ride bikes, and we go to the gym (all of us) 3-4 times a week. After dinner (which is usually later in the summer) they watch TV, and sometimes play w/ the wii.

Both my daughters spend at least 1 week/month at various day, and sleepover camps, and my oldest volunteers 1-2 days a week at a daycamp--Hardly inactive. On those nights they go to bed earlier.

For the person who said it screws with school once it restarts--Both my kids are honor roll, and my 8th grader is in high school level courses. Sleeping late in the SUMMER has no impact on there ability to realize that it they cannot do that on every occasion, and how well they adjust back to a school schedule.

Sure I could have my daughter volunteer every day, and I could have them in more camps. But micromanaging, and over scheduling the kids 52 weeks a year doesn't work for us.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I don't think I'd let my ds (13) consistently sleep the day away but once in a while sleeping into the afternoon wouldn't hurt. I let him stay up til 1am-ish over summer break and I wake him up at 10 - 10:30. I don't want him wasting a whole day in bed and being lazy all day.

 

[aprilgail2]

well you'll think I'm mad then .... our kids do not and will not have TV or They have a bedtime, which as they are young we adhere to within 1/2 hour or so, and when they will be teenagers they will also have a bedtime - much later of course - but there will be a limit. Weekends are far more flexible though and I'm not too worried about the time as long as its before 10.30 as we are often out weekend nights with them.

When they are teenager you plan on them having a bedtime during the summer?????

 

[Darsa]

Wow, my DD13's not quite THAT bad... she's usually up by 11 or so. Last night she had two friends over, and they were up in the tent in the backyard till around 2-3AM, and ended up waking up at about 6:30... before I walked out the door to go to work, I mentioned that DD is VERY hard to deal with when she hasn't had enough sleep, looked at her friends and said "good luck!" and left. Hopefully they're still friends by the time DH drives them home

 

[jrmasm]

When they are teenager you plan on them having a bedtime during the summer?????

Mine does but I'd make her try the sweet potatoes too.

 

[cristit14]

DD13 has an internship at the pool M-Th from 845 til about 11 or 1130 so no sleeping in for her on those days. On the weekend though she is usually in bed until 10 or 11. I don't worry about it unless we have somewhere to be. DS 11 I do have go to bed earlier because he wakes up by 8 always and is cranky the rest of the day. He is usually up by 630 or 7. He says he likes the alone time early in the morning.

 

[ckay87]

Sounds like a bunch of inactive kids to me.

Mine always had a sports camp or guitar lessons in the summer-or were swimming in someone's pool.
No way I would let them sleep until noon-I can't imagine how these kids's bodies and sleep patterns adjust when school starts!

What the heck time in the morning do you kids have guitar lessons? Mine have them at 5 pm. And summer sports are always more fun at dusk. Oh, and you must have great friends who are welcomming you into their pool first thing in the morining. You know full well that you don't have to be up early to be active, but nice try. Just because you don't do something a certain way does not make it wrong.

 

[MizTink]

plus it's just so darned HOT early in the afternoon! unless they're in the pool, they get too hot sooo quick......it's so much nicer being outside later in the afternoon and in the evening.

 

[KarenB]

I have 2 college DSs home for the summer. Before they went to college, they were on a pretty "normal" schedule. Now they are up until 2-3 am and then they sleep as much as they can. They both work (oldest DS has 2 jobs), both do well in college, both help me whenever I ask them to, we catch up at dinner if they are home, they tell me where they are going and who they are with......I can go on and on.

It does bother me that they sleep as late as they do when they are working a later shift. I remember doing the same thing when I was their age, but I was doing things that I am glad they are not (if you know what I mean )!!

I can't complain......
Karen

 

[MizTink]

it's 11:20 am right now and the house is as quiet as could be! i'm the only 1 awake......
but if today had been a work day for me, then i would be getting home in about 20 minutes. the whole time they would have been home alone while i was working, they would have been sleeping and out of trouble!!!!!

 

[yoopermom]

My DH works third shift and works during the day, so I'm THRILLED that DS14 stays up until midnight/one a.m.ish and then gets up by noon. He has a few hours to do stuff around the house, then goes to his sporting activities in the late afternoon/evening, etc.

My ONLY rule is no "electronics" of any kind after 11 pm because by then I'm in bed and not able to "peek" over his shoulder at what he's doing online or on the Xbox. Believe it or not, after that he....reads!

I'm with everyone else who thinks that as long as the child has a balanced life, eats healthy, exercises, etc, as well as sleeps, oh, well.

Terri

 

[JLTraveling]

Disclaimer: I'm not a parent. But I frequently have my teenage cousins (now 16 and 17, started when they were 9 and 10) as extended houseguests. Most recently, I had the 17 year old and her best friend for several days last week. I think if your kids have traditional sleep cycles, and become cranky and out of whack when staying up late, it makes sense to try to keep them on a somewhat regular cycle. Likewise if they have early morning activities such as jobs or camp. Beyond that, though, who cares? Some kids who stay up late will grow out of it and move on to daytime jobs. Others will remain night owls and work jobs that accommodate that.

For example, I'm a full-grown adult. I was a night owl when I was little (used to watch TV with my night owl Dad till after midnight, long after my early bird Mom went to bed). I was a night owl as a teenager. And I'm still a night owl today. I'm also a writer who works full-time from home on my own schedule. Before that, I worked 3-11 in residential mental health. Before that, I worked noon-10 at a voodoo shop. Most nights I'm texting with my long distance boyfriend until around 3am. Sometimes I'm also hanging out with my night owl friends (I live in New Orleans, which is very much a 24 hour city). When the teens were here last week, we typically hung out until around midnight, then they went up to their room to do whatever they do, and they were just going to bed when I went up at around 3. I usually get up around 10, they slept till about noon every day. We got plenty of sightseeing and eating and fun stuff done, and I even took them to Bourbon Street on Saturday night. Nobody died.

I just can't imagine overregulating anyone's sleep schedule unless it's constrained by external factors. To me that's as bad as making mealtime a battleground. Just my two cents.

 

[Allison]

For example, I'm a full-grown adult

So are the kids this thread was about---now.

 

[luvflorida]

So are the kids this thread was about---now.