Week Five: More on the bedtime roadmap

I still like the stuff I outlined a few days ago about dealing with the emotions of bedtime. But now we've also decided to deal with the TIMING of bedtime as well. Sadly, these two objectives will not help each other much. Other kids may become more cantankerous about the bedtime the sleepier they get, Fiora actually gets much more charming about bedtime the sleepier she gets (for instance, there was almost no fuss last night about bedtime - only problem was it was way too late! Not an adequate solution for the emotional difficulty around bedtime...though perhaps fodder for helping her identify HOW tired she is, if we end up there again).

CURRENT SITUATION: we aim for bedtime between 7 and 8pm, she's gotten to bed as late as 8:30 (and the later the bedtime, the crankier the child the next day)
GOAL: bedtime around 7pm EVERY NIGHT, however peaceful (the reading I've done on sleeping so far suggests that every night matters - just having one late night a week affects their brain function, too bad!)

OBSTRUCTIONS ON OUR ROAD:
1. Bri and I both work fairly late, and though we COULD change that it wouldn't be easy
- I just increased my hours as part of a longterm family goal, and I'm trying to fill up my schedule. I'd rather not take away the late hours until my schedule is fuller
- Bri does his writing in the morning, and has had trouble when he's tried to switch to writing in the evening
2. The nights I work late, Bri has to (a) pick Fi up from daycare; (b) make dinner; and (c) put Fi to bed. This seems like too much to me, and indeed, her latest nights seem to fall on these nights.
3. We don't get much time with Fiora at night anyway, so it's tempting to keep her up.
4. I really like having family dinners, and that won't happen on my late nights if she gets to bed on time.

SOLUTIONS:
1. Prioritize bedtime - this is win-win. Once she's in bed, both parents have more time to do chores, relax, or walk with the dogs. We can still have family dinners 4 of 7 nights a week, so at least more often than not.
2. Make 2 of my late nights official "leftovers" nights, so Bri doesn't have to choose between a late bedtime or a late dinner - he'll take over weekend meals
3. Find out if Fi eats dinner with her daycare family - if she does, a snack during her bedtime ritual (PJ's, read books, brush teeth) might be enough if we're running late
4. Family dinners at 6-7pm (7pm on Fridays, 6pm otherwise) on my cooking nights and on weekends. Bri will aim to get home by 6 or 6:30 on my Wednesday cooking night.
5. I'll prioritize getting out of work on time 2 of 3 nights a week (the somewhat earlier nights) so I can say goodnight to Fiora and help with bedtime. I can catch-up on low-priority phone calls on the really late night.
6. Note: might have to brainstorm new lunch foods if we're eating more leftovers for dinner...this has been hard to solve for Bri, as we're on a tighter budget this year and he used to get meals at his company's FABULOUS "cafe" - homemade anything had a tough time competing, and doesn't always fill him up.

Hey, this isn't as drastic as I thought it might have to be, and I think it will work! :) Hurrah for roadmaps and problem-solving!

Finally, I'm going to keep a sleep schedule record for all three of us this week - curiuos to see what it shows. Already it revealed that Bri got MUCH LESS sleep than I realized last night!