But I need them to have bedtimes!

Several weeks before his birthday, we asked Kevin what he wanted most. And his answer--a later bedtime. That seems like a reasonable request, but he's been problematic where bedtime is concerned since he was a toddler. He has to be reminded and pushed toward the bathroom, re-reminded that he needs to shower, re-re-reminded that lights out at 9:30 does not mean turning the light off but then turning a radio on and singing with it for the next hour.

We decided to give it a try, though. Weekends he's allowed to stay up later anyway, so we offered him the chance to judge for himself how late he thought he could stay up and still be able to drag himself out of bed in the morning.

Friday night he stayed up until 12:30 and was not happy when he and to get up at 8 to get to his dance class on time. Last night he went to bed at 11, and was still not happy when I got him up at 8 this morning for the hell of it.

We planned on telling him this afternoon that he needed to be in bed no later than 10 on school nights, and even then we might change that if he has issues getting up and ready for school.

But then I overheard him talking to Alex, who offered brotherly advice:

Don't be stupid about it. Just because they didn't give you a bedtime doesn't mean you don't have one. Rachel can stay up all night if she wants but she always goes to bed by ten thirty. I go around eleven thirty. Give ten o'clock a try for a week, and if you can still get up, try ten thirty. Just don't be stupid.

We could tell him the same thing over and over and he wouldn't listen; Alex says it once, and I know he'll listen.

So tonight we're just going to wait and see what he does. It would be very nice to not have the nightly go-to-bed struggle.

On the other hand, it's just another step towards all the kids being grown up, and I'm nowhere near ready for that. Next year he'll be a teenager, and I think he's going to be a fun teenager, but I can't help but dwell on the idea that Alex is heading towards being gone sooner instead of later, and Rachel won't be too far behind him.

You really don't get enough time to raise your kids, do you?