Up all night

One night last week, Ben was upset. "Why do I have to go to bed?" I explained that his body needed to rest so he could have energy for school the next day. "It's not fair. I just want to stay up all night!" I thought for a second, and said, "You know what, Budda? You can stay up as late as you want on Friday night." And he did. We watched TV and played Wii. Then, Aaron took him to the grocery store for milk around 9pm. They came back, and we watched the Simpsons - both episodes. By then, it was 11, and I said, "That's it - I'm going to bed." Ben looked satisfied that he had, at least, stayed up as long as I did, and headed off to bed, all by himself.

The next day, he was a mess. He only slept until 7:30 the next morning, and as the day progressed, he got more and more tired. But would he take a nap? NO WAY! We went to the grocery store, and I had to carry my poor (tall!) 6 year old boy in the house when we finished.

Don't worry - I utilized the teaching moment - reminding him that the whole reason he felt "SO TIRED" was due to his lack of sleep. I think he learned his lesson. He's been in bed, without complaint, for the past couple of days.