Teen FAQ

It sounds like somehow you've negotiated a pretty good deal already, bedtime of 9:30pm, but up till midnight. The word "bedtime" can have lots of different meanings. What expectations does your mother have of the word? What expectations do you have? And what advantages are there in the rest of the house after 9:30pm that you're seeking? Do you miss being with others or is there a better TV, or computer use you're wishing for? Some kids really don't need as much sleep as others. Some fall asleep better with passive input such as TV, while others who feel they're doing fine on a few hours sleep, don't know how good they can feel and perform when they get more sleep.

Who enforces you turning off the TV at midnight? Do you just fall asleep while watching and your mother later turns it off, if so, you're getting-to-sleep routine can become dependent on an outside source (TV). It may be that your mother is reluctant to have conflict over spelling out clear rules with clear, enforced consequences. If this is the case, there is this unclear area of your life surrounding bedtime, and even though you get to stay up late, you're still not satisfied. Often when there are younger siblings it can affect how early or late you need to be in bed or where in the house you need to be by when. You two might sit down to get a clear view of the situation - get it spelled out (when, where and why). You may have different rules for school nights than weekend nights. And if you bring up the subject to so you better understand, rather than to just get more, you'll probably succeed. Good luck.