Bedtime is a constant struggle. With three kids, someone always wants to fight the night time routine. I asked my 5-year-old, “Why do you hate going to bed?” His reply, “You get to stay up all night long and play and have fun.”
It made me wonder what kids actually think parents do once they are fast asleep. My guess is that kids think we are doing what they wish they could do if they could stay up just a little bit longer.
I imagine that if I asked my kids what they think we do when they go to bed their list would look something like this:
They probably think we are doing all the crafts they don’t get to do when they want like:
Finger paint
Play PlayDoh
Watch Scooby Doo
Throw glitter around the house with reckless abandon
Or maybe they think we are playing make believe like they do when they are awake. They probably think we are doing things like:
Wrestle alligators
Play dress up
Have sword fights
Hunt for dragons
Build forts
Play with each and every one of their toys
Fly kites
Blow bubbles
They most definitely think we are eating all the food they wish they could eat.
Eat candy
Eat cake
Drink chocolate milk with swirly straws
But, the truth is – adulting isn’t as exciting as kids imagine it, and we don’t exactly do what they think we’re doing.
Here’s what parents ACTUALLY do when the kids go to bed
Clean up stains and messes on the floors from kids finger painting.
Pick up flaky dried pieces of PlayDoh.
Watch grown up T.V. shows with curse words in them.
Curse when we find piles of glitter in the couch.
“Wrestle” with Daddy.
Then Daddy tries to have a “sword fight ” with mommy.
Eat candy.
Pick up kite string that in wrapped and tangled in the vacuum cleaner.
Fold 27 blankets that were used while the kids built forts.
Do the dishes.
Eat cake.
Hunt for missing sneakers and lost items from the day.
Drink alcohol with swirly straws.
Pick up each and every one of their toys.
I wish my evenings were more like what my kids think they are like when they go to bed and less what they are actually like. However, someone has to be the grown-up around here. And, I guess that might as well be me.