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“Mum, I have a throbbing headache that won’t go away,” came a text message from my eldest daughter. She spent a couple of days with her sister and their cousins at their aunt’s place. Despite being away, she constantly updated me on their on-goings, so I was aware that she barely slept well. The same thing happened when they were at my place. I made a make-shift bedroom in my living room for the lack of space and would later take full blame for their watching TV till late. Very late. As my punishment, I had no living area each day till around 11am, when hunger finally woke them up. For an early riser, I was forced to work in the confines of my room, with no table or chair. 

Too much to do in such little time!

Lack of enough sleep has its effects too. When Patience began complaining of bad moods, it was easy to assume that she was just a normal pre-teen. But then, so were her cousins. “We’re on holiday, mum, we’re having fun!” they would defend themselves. From movies to trivia and TikTok, theirs was an endless journey of entertainment we almost lost control of.

Back home, we got to nursing sleep hangovers, headaches and, well, healthier meals. With children sleeping till late, we made up for the late nights and came up with a better sleeping routine. See, the thing about raising children today is that they know well to champion what they want. Mine have mastered the art of negotiating for everything and will cleverly make deals that entice you to do what they want. 

Strike a deal and stick to it

Many of my friends tell me that it’s challenging to get their children to go to bed, “What will we tell them to convince them now that there’s no school?” one even asked when I called to follow up on some article writing project late at night. My daughters and I finally agreed to have a set bedtime for the holiday season, failure to which repercussions would follow. And since everyone wants time on their devices, the deal is working, at least so far.