Little Llamas Need Their Rest

If there’s anything that can turn a minor situation into a full-length llama drama (with no intermission), it’s a little girl who is tired. That’s why our daughters have been going to bed at 6:30 p.m. for the past two weeks.

We started out the school year with a 7:30 p.m. bedtime. Then we backed it up to between 7:00 and 7:30 for a while, which seemed to work. But something about starting back to school after the holidays has been BRUTAL, so my husband and I came to the conclusion that the girls must still be tired and need more rest.

My grandfather famously started each day with the phrase, “I’ll get up but I won’t go to school.” I found this hilariously funny growing up because he was CLEARLY past school age (in his early hundreds, in my juvenile estimation) and it always elicited a firm, mock-scolding “Donald!” from my grandmother.

However, when our oldest llama refused to get up OR go to school (in spite of the fact that she loves it), it wasn’t nearly so humorous. Several mornings that first week back found my husband and me literally dragging our daughter from her bed and forcing kindergarten legs into navy blue tights – all the while vowing to get her to bed earlier that evening. The after-school emotional outbursts confirmed our plan: early bedtime was a must.

In order to achieve our goal, each step of our afternoon and evening routine had to be backed up. I started giving baths right after school. I was cooking at 4:00 in the afternoon. We were eating dinner at 5:15 so we’d have time to clean the dishes and tackle the evening bedtime ritual, which would culminate in a 6:30 p.m. lights out.

I’m not going to lie to you; it’s been a challenge. Sort of like being on a frenetic game show, minus the Rice-A-Roni and cash prize giveaways. We have to keep moving or the buzzer will signal that time has run out and we’ve lost. Some nights we’ve failed, but mostly we’ve succeeded in getting the kids to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m., and that has made a tremendous difference in our school day mornings.

Because little llamas – and their parents – need their rest.