Just Another Manic Mommy

Dear Manic Mommy: I have two boys, eight and five, and they are on their summer holiday. I am finding it extremely hard to get them to settle at night. I can get them in their beds, but every time I leave the room, they start play fighting and generally being hyper. This behavior carries on into the wee small hours, sometimes until four in the morning! I do wake them up pretty early, but it doesn't make any difference. I would greatly appreciate any advice or tips.

Manic Mommy: My boys are 10 and seven and I'm telling ya, little boys remind me of lion cubs out in the wild, all rough and tumbling, scratching and fighting and crawling all over each other just because they can! They are totally different animals than girls, and I know how it is, and it's whacky crazy, and I can't tell you how often I scream at the boys to stop killing each other. You know exactly what I mean too; I know you do!

My boys share a room too, and they get a little boisterous at bedtime too. Is there any way you can separate them at bedtime? You could put the younger one in your bed to initially fall asleep and then move him later, after his older brother falls asleep. They wouldn't be able to play fight or be hyper if they are not in the same room together.

It sounds like they could use the extra sleep, and so could you! Hopefully, this is just a summer holiday thing, and when school starts back up, they'll get back into a nice routine with homework and sports and lots of class work and they'll be too tired to play around at night! I know I can't wait for my little lion cubs to get back into the routine of school and a normal bedtime!