You lucky one. Ours get up any time between 5.30 and 6.30 am… Mind you, the older one (8) surprises us now and then getting up slightly after 7 am.
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We went through a lot of 5am starts. I remember waiting for CeeBeebies to start at 6am. My wofe and I were reminiscing about our eldest going for a wee in the night (he must have been 3 or 4) and then banging the radiator in the bathroom to wake us up so we’d take him back to bed.
Even as recently as February, especially the eldest (12) would still be up not long after 7 on a weekend (he has to be woken up at 720 for school). When it started we checked to make sure they were still breathing a lot.
I think it must be a coping mechanism for them (it certainly makes their days much shorter). Either that or they’re catching up on 10 years of missed sleep.
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I don’t know where I read or maybe I saw it in a documentary, but teenagers brains are at their full potential of activity (the best pound for pound in all of our lives by quite a margin) but that comes at a price, needing a lot more sleep. I guess the grumpiness and moods might have something to do with it as well.
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I’m on a school start time committee here, and we’re looking through a massive amount of research about teenage sleep habits and brain functions. It basically boils down to “If we started school at 10 AM instead of 7:30, we’d have an entire generation of teenage geniuses.”
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As someone who nearly failed to graduate due to my first class beginning at 7:40am, I approve this message.
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There was a study quoted on No Such Thing as a Fish that suggested if school started at 10am it would produce an extra £50bn
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Some of the stats around it are bonkers. We read a study on the impact it had on school sports, and the win ratios for late start schools were 20% higher, but the crazy part was that the injury rate was something like 70% lower. Teenage driving accident numbers nosedived as well. One sleep specialist we brought in for a consult pointed his finger at the superintendent and said “If you fail to move to later start times, you are committing to slowly murdering your student body.”. This was before COVID, so hyperbole still had impact.
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I suspect people’s sleep patterns would just change!
We’re well into our full first day with the kids at our new house; they’ve been spending the days with grandparents during the move and we had been cautious about giving them too much exposure to the new house before the move, so they didn’t get into a habit of “see new house, but then return to the safety of old house” – trying to make a clean break in their perception of “home”. So far it seems to be working; crossing my fingers but no mention of “going home” yet.
At our old house, our back yard was not really suitable for children to play in – there was a bit that was always muddy and there was a fairly steep hill. The new house has a great back yard and hopefully we’ll get a swing set installed this fall still. My partner just took the kids to play in the back yard… or as our 2.5yo calls it, the “back garden”. That is not what we call it and it’s all Sarah & Duck’s fault.
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Covid-19 precautions are taking their toll. My daughter is definitely having less fun at daycare these days, and the signs of stress are becoming more obvious. Kind of frustrating to hear that my colleagues’ daycare is totally acting as if there were no pandemic - benefiting from everyone else’s caution as much as possible, until/unless something goes wrong.
A conversation the other day:
“I don’t mind going to daycare, I don’t mind going to daycare… but you should spend all your money and I’ll go to daycare”
“I don’t understand, what do you mean?”
“I don’t mind going to daycare, but [first] you should spend all your money on holiday until you have one money left, and then I’ll go [back] to daycare”
At first I thought this conversation was harmless, a little amusing, but now it’s making me tear up. She’s trying so hard to negotiate, to be reasonable.
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That is so sad to hear 
Poor kid.
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The pandemic is definitely taking its toll. Even here in NZ, where it has been very dealt with and we had a good 100 days of normality, it has left sequels. My 8 yo daughter has developed an “aversion” to kisses that normally happens at a much later age (12 or older).
But the overdose of information about being germs free (which in a way is not the panacea, we need to wash our hands, but not to continuously destroy our natural skin bacterial flora) and disinfected has made our children even more prone to isolation and reduced their natural wish to touch, and be tactile with each other.
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Distancing is pretty strongly enforced at our daycare (but not others). An older girl has been bullying S saying that she sits too close to her best friend, talks while eating… the sort of stuff that never would have crossed the minds of 4-5 yr olds last year. Most physical activities are cancelled, events are all cancelled, she has nothing to look forward to. I know we have it easy compared to people going through lockdown, or getting sick, but I hate how all this is affecting her development.
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It breaks my heart to read what she’s going though. Even though everyone is concerned by the pandemic, it still is “grownup’s problems” for most kids, and as parents, we hope we can shield them from it (or at the very least I do for my girls). Sadly, we cannot, and it is very frustrating.
If you don’t mind me asking, do you, as a parent, agree on how the daycare is handling things? Is it too much ? Do you have some form of a “parent’s desk” where you could voice the frustration (even if you agree with why they are distancing, maybe at least see if there is any way they can still match the kids needs for ‘a normal life’)
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I’m really sorry that you’re struggling and that your daughter isn’t having a great time.
I’m not sure if you want suggestions, but when you said that she has nothing to look forward to it broke my heart a bit.
I think as parents you can fill that space, I can’t remember how old your children are but film nights with popcorn, dressing up as princesses, building forts, indoor or outdoor camping, making a scrapbook, having a big craft project, making a photo collage, decorate masks or make social distancing hats, story telling games or even lots of day trips to places you can get outside as a family. Find what makes them giggle and keep doing that.
Are they old enough to appreciate stamps or coins sent from places across the world?
I don’t always feel this way in the moment, but silver linings can be found anywhere if you look hard enough.
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I used to do something called Postcrossing, whereby you send postcards to strangers, and receive them from different strangers. I got some really nice cards and messages from people all over the world. It definitely gives a sense of anticipation while you’re waiting!
I have quite a lot of cards left over, so if anyone thinks that would cheer up their child for a few minutes, send me a PM and I’ll post you one covered in stamps and stickers 
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I’d sign up for sending a few as well.
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Me too, I think it is a great idea, and we have really nice coins and postcards here in NZ.
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@Cokho While I find it frustrating that our daughter is missing out on so much, while other daycares still have a full range of activities, I don’t think they are doing anything wrong. The staff are doing an impossibly stressful job, and if anything I’m impressed they haven’t lapsed into pretending that nothing will happen as a way of coping with the stress.
@Captbnut There probably is more that we can do. The problem is that nearly all our energy is drained by the demands of 1-yr old twins. Day trips to parks were a good way to keep all three happy with minimal effort, but recently 35+ C and 80 % humidity. Anyway, she does enjoy her days at home, for the most part, that’s actually what she meant by the “holidays” she wants more of.
I like the postcards idea.
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Heck yeah we do. I think I’ve still got one of the old 50 cent bits I could send out. I feel like they were as big as my face.
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