I'm Done with the Day

Closing out the day in a large family requires a fairly large investment of time. There are six kids bedrooms with presently 9 kids occupying them.

Bedtimes during the summer are a little more relaxed.

The littles are almost always in bed by 9. They need it and I need it. Bedtime stories lately are either one of the many "Curious George" adventures or the "Ezra, Jeremiah and Sam to the Rescue" made up tales, of their incredible bravery and heroism. (They've done everything from saving an entire village from man eating lions to being the only boys brave enough to stand up for Jesus.)

The middles have a more flexible curfew. It basically works like this: After the littles are in bed, James and I can relax a bit more and they can find things to amuse themselves. Sometimes they go out for a night swim, or a few more games of basketball. The key to their bedtime is "out of sight - out of mind". The longer they allow James and I to sit and talk, the longer they get to stay up. They've gotten good at this and often 10 o'clock will sneak up on us. They still get tucked in with prayers, but no bed time story.

The bigs get to stay up with us and watch an episode of a Netflix tv show. We rent the shows to eliminate commercials (which are completely irritating) and to keep continuity, which is important with many of the series we watch. I really love having some time with the bigs alone. They do so much for me during the day...watching littles, cleaning, cooking....it's nice to just hang out with them.

And then the sweetest time of day - everyone quiet and in bed.
(of course there's sleep-overs, but that's another things all-together)