September Writing Challenge - Prompt #22:
After Hours
In our current phase of parenting, we don’t really enforce a bed time for Nicky (16) and Daisy (13.9). We just ask them to be wise about what time to go to sleep so they don’t suffer so much in the morning, and they’re pretty good about it. Zoe (10.8) and Eva (8) still have bed time - there’s not an “official” time, but on school nights we try to have them in bed by 9:00. On the weekends, as long as they aren’t fighting, we let them stay up as late as they want. Zoe is good about going to bed at a reasonable time. Eva is more of a night owl, but she usually gets pretty tired and ends up going to bed by 10:30-11:00 at the latest.
I’ve been getting up pretty early now that the kids are back in school. Some days I walk with my friends at 5:45, and I usually end up waking up before my alarm goes off at 5:30. Since I get up early, I can’t make it much past 10:00 p.m. before I pass out.
During the time between putting Zoe and Eva to bed and falling asleep, myself, there are a lot of things I want to do. Nothing productive, mind you, other than spending time with Scotty. When the girls get in bed, we have to put the house in lockdown so they will go to sleep. This is not a time to clean or do work. This is a time for darkness and silence, save for the forest sounds that Zoe likes to listen to for twenty minutes every night on the Echo. So Scotty and I retreat to our bedroom and Nicky and Daisy head to one of the lower levels of the house (we have four levels which makes our house sound big, but that’s not how it goes. It’s about 1,900 sq ft).
If all goes well and the girls aren’t fighting in their room, Scotty and I will usually watch a few minutes of a show (we have a TV in our bedroom. I’ll own up to this sin. You wanna know the best part? It’s a 50” TV! You can judge us. I don’t care!) Scotty always goes to sleep pretty quickly. If he had it his way, all the kids would be in bed by 8:00 pm, and he would be snoring away by 8:05. But to his dismay, he doesn’t get to conk out until more like 9:15 (we watch shows together in 15 minute increments. It’s taken us about three weeks to get through The Hobbit).
After he falls asleep, I stay up for a while and live my night life. There is so much I want to do during this time - watch shows, read, text my friends, blog, scroll through recipes on my phone, contemplate the mysteries of the universe, etc. So I do those things until I pass out. I usually end with reading, and I know it’s time to stop when I start sleep reading, which is when I swear I fall asleep with my eyes open and begin dreaming a new plot to the book while still scanning the words. That’s when I put my phone down (I usually opt for an e-book at night), and roll over and fall asleep (Oooo another sin! Looking at my phone right before bed! I am truly reckless!)
For most of society, I go to bed “early.” But in my marriage, I’m the wild one who stays up late! It always feels like I live a whole other life after Scotty goes to sleep! Forty-five-ish minutes of adventure in a dark, quiet house. This very post is a product of that time. At least… the first half. The second half was written at 5:30 the next morning when I was wide awake even though I canceled walking with my friends so I could “sleep in” since my kids didn’t have school.
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