Your Kids Need Sleep

I often get asked about parenting. Maybe it's because I've been doing children's ministry for twenty years, been a teacher for twenty years, and been a parent for a combined total (if you add up my kids' ages) of 48 years. I see my own kids every day of course (at least the two that are still at home) and maybe a hundred other kids every week. So yeah, I get asked about parenting.

Not my kid (photo credit)

There are several obvious things parents can do to help their kids. Parents showing affection and respect for one another is huge. Another is setting aside time for the family to be together (not just co-location, but eye contact and words--food too. And prayer. Lots of prayer.

One less obvious is sleep habits. Kids (even teens) need eight to ten hours of sleep each night. A consistent, and early, bedtime helps in so many ways.

Mood: Tired people are grumpy. Maybe that grumpiness isn't adolescent hormones. It might just be sleepiness.

Health: Nagging coughs, digestive issues, headaches? Sleep a consistent eight to ten hours and watch the health improve.

Grades: Well-rested people can concentrate. Tired people can't. Memories get consolidated during sleep. Not enough sleep for good memory consolidation? Hours of study down the drain.

Study habits: Connected to "grades," when kids know they need to go to bed at the same time every night, there is no such thing as cramming for a test the night before. Space the studying out, and the material is learned more deeply.

Virtue: Not to judge night owls, but the kinds of things people do in the morning tend to be better things than the things they do at night.

Marital bliss! When kids are in bed before their parents, there is time for husband and wife to be husband and wife. Steep some tea, have some conversation, etc.

There are more benefits, but maybe you are already convinced and want to know how to put it into practice. I don't know what will work for you, but here is what we do.

The kids are usually fed and ready for bed by 8:30 or so. We pray together as a family. The kids (even the high schoolers) go to their rooms and lie down. That's it.

Well, that's not completely it. Computers, phones, all iDevices, stay in the living room. Also, no studying after bedtime, but pleasure reading is OK. We don't explicitly say that pleasure reading is OK. When our kids were young they felt like they were getting away with something by reading in bed until quite late. All three kids love to read now. (Sneaky us!)