With the Easter weekend coming up, I’m sure a lot of people are preparing to spend some quality time with the extended family.
For us, that involves descending on my parent’s house mob-handed. Which means, 16 people will be there, including 7 grandchildren! The kids all get on well enough and love spending time together. The challenge comes at bedtime.
Trying to get seven kids under six years old all to bed when they are excited for a sleepover is a real challenge. We could stay at home. Our house is only 5 minutes away from my parents and we wouldn’t have to pack everything up and move for one night. But what fun would that be? And how would my mum feel? She loves having the whole family together. So, whilst it may be a challenge, it will be one that we have to deal with. But how do you?
Quiet time before bed? Not likely. They will probably all have a bath together and get even more excited. The little man shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Bottle, blankey and dummy and he’ll be sorted. We then just have to hope that he sleeps through. On the other hand, Molly might be a bit more of a challenge. If she shares a room with her cousins, she definitely won’t go to bed at a reasonable time. She also ends up in our bed still most nights, so that should be interesting. If that happens, I will probably end up on the sofa! Or maybe she can sleep in bed with Grandma?!
Sunday evening will come with its own challenges too. With the switch to British Summer Time, the clocks go forwards. I’m sure lots of parents will be having the same challenge of having to explain that it’s still bedtime, even though it’s now light.
I’ll be back to report on how it goes. If anybody has any tips, let me know!