Bedtime pleas won’t deter parents’ voyage into silence
I’VE LATELY BEEN reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” to my 9-year- old daughter at bedtime. Chapter by chapter, we’ve sailed into the world of buccaneers and squalls, nameless islands and chatty parrots. And night by night, Somerset has pleaded for just 30 more minutes to stay up. The thought of sleep to her, to most kids I would imagine, is akin to walking the plank.
A whole day’s worth of fun, hours’ worth of television, video games and arguing with siblings, she seems to think, are to be found in that final half-hour before lights out. The unfairness of being forced to her bunk at a reasonable time is quite apparent to her.
Like the characters of Long John Silver, Captain Flint and young Jim Hawkins, Somerset schemes and plots nightly to uncover the treasure of consciousness past the 9- o’clock hour. What fun must take place from then until morning with adults eating ice cream as though it were good for us, drinking a cask of rum, or watching television and movies with explosions and expletives.
Sure, all of that happens, but it’s our right .
After four decades of living, my cumulative experience and wisdom have led me to understand one truth, one undeniable right as unwavering as the pirate’s code itself: “zzz” marks the spot. Our children’s slumber marks the spot at the end of the day when no one is asking for anything, whining over perceived wrongs, destroying my ship -shape kitchen or arguing with me. There is silence over the horizon of bedtime, and it’s what we parents set our course for from the moment we wake. The S.S. Because I Said So is fully provisioned and looking to anchor in the protected Bay of Solitude.
My daughter pleads, rationalizes and emphatically insists that she is not tired. The dark circles, half- closed lids and general crankiness, however, tell me otherwise. By the end of a long school day, there is a map of fatigue etched across her face. And still she begs. She’s not the only one. We’ve suffered through night terrors, bad dreams, needing another drink of water … drink of milk … hug … trip to the bathroom. Children are a deceptive crew when it comes to evading sleep. The tricks seem to be universal, and not all that dissimilar to ones I employed as a child.
So perhaps I had it coming to me. Maybe we do reap what we sow. Maybe I should have welcomed sleep when I was 9, and looked upon it as the chance for rest and renewal. And if I had, maybe my own kids would think of bedtime in the same way and leave us with calm waters and balmy breezes each night instead of our regularly scheduled 8:30 p.m. mutiny.
Richard J. Alley is the father of two boys and two girls. Read more from him at uurrff.blogspot.com. Become a fan of “Because I Said So” on Facebook: facebook.com/alleygreenberg.