Do you sometimes feel like you don’t know where the time went? Like life is happening to you and you just roll with it without every really thinking about it? Know what I mean?
We felt that way not too long ago about our bedtime routine. Bedtime was a beast here. It was loud, not something we ever looked forward to - and dare I say dreaded?
We’ve been intentionally working on simplifying our home life for a long while now, but there’s always. always something to work on in a growing family. And bedtime was up next. We had to do something. Today on the blog, I’m sharing about how we created a calm bedtime routine.
Before we had the calm, our bedtime routine was more like a sprint. Now it is more like a marathon..slow and steady and consistent.
What did we initially do? We talked about it. Probably extensively as it was a rough part of our day as parents.
- Discussed the hardest parts of bedtime. Which for us was when all of the kids were together, it became a mob. A very loud, hard to stop mob.
- Brainstormed ways to streamline.
- Tag teamed for a while to work out the kinks.
Now it’s a well oiled tame beast that we no longer dread facing. It’s predictable and calm (even with some blips here and there because kids). And once bedtime routine starts, we have to keep rolling or it’ll fall apart once again.
Our old bedtime routine
We aimed around a certain time to start the routine, but often missed the mark, and that never helped out our situation. Everyone piled into the bathroom at the same time and it was chaos. People making loud noises and running away. Oh my. It was exhausting and not peaceful and we often didn’t look forward to it.
Our new bedtime routine
We get everyone upstairs for bed at the same time. We call each child one at a time and only focus on them to get them ready start to finish. Quiet activities are encouraged for the others while this is happening. One at a time until everyone is ready. It takes a while, but it’s been such a good, peaceful change.
PS if you’d like a list of other ideas of boundaries you can set around bedtime for various ages, feel free to send me an email at simplehomemom@gmail.com if you’d like that.
Hi, I’m Kelly! I’m a mother of four children - three boys, one toddler girl - and our family lives on the beautiful east coast of Canada. I’m a past elementary teacher, turned stay at home, work at home mom eight years ago after I had my second child. I’ve found that the busier I’ve become and as my children age, that it’s become even more important to figure out what is most important to me and us as a family. Living a simpler lifestyle has helped us in so many ways in our home life - from better routines to faster tidying up times. It has been through my children that I have been inspired to learn how to effectively manage my time and to simplify in all areas of my home and life. I enjoy helping busy moms simplify home life by teaching flexible planning methods and skills. Enjoyed this blog and think it would be helpful to others? I'd love if you shared it. Thank you!