After 4 years of absolute chaos every single night, we've somehow stumbled into a routine that actually works. 7:30 bath, 7:50 stories, 8:15 lights out. No negotiating, no "one more thing," no crying. My wife and I literally just looked at each other last night like... is this our life now? We even have 30 minutes to ourselves before bed. Feels like a miracle honestly.
lmao the "is this our life now" moment gets me. We had something similar happen around month 6 of actually sticking to a schedule and I was genuinely suspicious like our kids were plotting something. Enjoy it while it lasts because honestly one schedule change or growth spurt and it all goes sideways again
Just wait until school starts back up or you travel anywhere. I'm not trying to be a downer but we had this same thing going for like 8 months and then summer hit and it completely fell apart. That said, you've clearly figured out what works for your family so you can rebuild it faster next time. What's the bath water temp? Some people swear by slightly cooler water helping kids wind down faster.
Dude, the 30 minutes to yourselves is the real win here. That's like finding money in your coat pocket every single night. How long did it take before your kids stopped trying to negotiate that "one more thing"?
The fact that you stuck with it long enough to actually see results is huge. Most people give up after a few weeks. 4 years of fighting for this 30 minutes makes it taste even better I bet.
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We've been trying the no-negotiating thing for like 2 months now and it's finally starting to stick. The key was being absolutely ruthless about the 8:15 cutoff—no exceptions, even if they claim they need water or whatever. Congrats on making it work, that's legit impressive after 4 years of hell.