Flashback Friday - Sweet Dreams

A quick post today, participating in Flashback Friday:

What was bedtime like when you were growing up? Were your parents strict in enforcing bedtimes? Were you a difficult one to get to bed? Did your parents share stories about getting you to sleep when you were a baby? When did your parents turn bedtime over to you? Were there any special rituals/routines a parent did - books, singing a special song, etc.? Nightlights, music, special doll/blanket or other things? Did you have your own bed or did you share with a sibling? Did you have nighttime fears and bad dreams? How did you handle them? Did you ever walk or talk in your sleep? Feel free to also share any routines you have done with your kids.

I honestly don't remember bedtimes much. My mom usually worked the 2-10 p.m. shift at the restaurant where she was a waitress and short order cook so I guess the baby sitter put us to bed. I just can't remember. In high school I went to bed when I wanted. My mom was a night owl and didn't care if we went to bed at 9 p.m. or midnight... unless we didn't get enough sleep and were grouchy and then she'd make us go to bed earlier the next night  :)

I shared a room and a bed with my sister until I was about 12 years old and we moved into a house with three bedrooms so I finally had my own room. But half the time I'd still go crawl in with my sister 'cause after so many years of sharing, it felt weird to be all alone. Besides, my sister gave the BEST back rubs!

I don't really remember any specific nightmares although I know I did have lots of them. I finally realized I needed to be careful what I watched or read. That helped eliminate some of the nightmares.

With my own kids they had a fairly early bedtime when they were young. I remember my daughter putting on her Christmas wish list one year: "bedtime at 8:30 p.m." because she (much like our host Linda) didn't want to miss out on anything that happened after she went to bed :)  As they got older we relaxed the required bedtime but, as my mom had done, if they showed signs of not getting sufficient sleep, the hammer came down and they were sent to bed plenty early the next night!

When our son was little and first moved from the crib to a big boy's bed, we had a terrible time keeping him IN the bed. I'm sure every mom has dealt with that at one time or another. Being our firstborn, we had no clue what to do. A friend recommended a routine so that's what we did; it included bath time, getting in jammies, reading a book, praying and maybe a song (if it was his dad putting him to bed). It still took a while, but he eventually settled into the routine and stayed in bed.

[Side note: I usually didn't sing to the kids because that would have been considered cruel and unusual punishment.]

Our kids shared a room until they were 3 and 7 years old, at which point we finally had a place with three bedrooms and they could have their own space. Our son kept the bunk bed and our daughter got our old double bed (we had upgraded to a new king-size). In later years the two fought over the double bed, with it going back and forth between their rooms. By the time that thing got "retired" it was not very comfortable, the mattress being old and in pretty bad shape. What they'd each liked about it was the size, and being able to sprawl on it. Just can't do that on a twin!

Speaking of beds, after having a king-size for many years, it was hard to adjust to a queen. It's been almost three years now and I still miss that king. But even if we had one, at this point we wouldn't have room to set it up -- these bedrooms are SMALL. I do like that our current queen-size mattress is one of those with air "bladders" that allows you to determine how soft or firm you want each side, and that's a nice feature. If it weren't for middle-age insomnia issues, it would make for some sweet dreams!

~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. I'm hosting a little give-away this week to celebrate my third blogiversary. Feel free to go HERE and leave a comment to be entered.