Late Night

This year, Brad and I started a family habit that is turning out to be one of our best ideas. I'd seen a few other families do some version of this through the years, and it always seemed like it would be a good use of our time, and BOY, has it been!

We decided to call it "Late Night." Each of the older three girls gets one weeknight a week to stay up later than her sisters to spend time with Brad, me, or both of us (depending on who is available). For Brynn, it's usually between 15-20 minutes, Lily usually does 20-25 minutes, and Claire usually gets half an hour. We don't assign a specific night to a specific daughter; this way, we can keep it fluid and not be tied down, in case we need to change things up unexpectedly.

Sometimes both Brad and I are available, sometimes just one of us. We usually ask them if there's something specific they'd like to do, but sometimes we make suggestions (I actually keep a running list of ideas on my phone, just in case we need inspiration). Brynna often has a firm idea about what she'd like to do. With her, we've built with Duplos, created with Lite Brite, completed puzzles, painted nails while listening to music, played dolls, read books, colored coloring books. For Lily, we usually have a book that we're reading through together. We've done all of Kate DiCamillo's Tales of Deckawoo Drive, Ruth Stiles Gannett's My Father's Dragon series, Fancy Nancy books, and a lot of Berenstain Bears. For Claire, it very much depends on which parent(s) is/are available. With Brad, she's been learning chess. With both of us, we've played Uno. When it's just me, we've been working on some color-by-number pictures and listening to audiobooks of some of my favorites (A Little Princess and Anne of Green Gables). 

Everything is free (i.e. we already own these things or have checked them out from the library) and nothing has taken any planning. BUT. It's been amazing to me the way it has helped with connection. Just knowing that they will get one-on-one time to talk or play or read can offset the tension that can rise from feeling pushed out by their siblings during the day. It's seriously one of the best rhythms we've incorporated.

I don't take a lot of pictures during Late Night (I try to have my phone put away), but here are a few that I've grabbed lately:

We have all been very pleased with how this has fit into our daily lives. I'm looking forward to seeing how else it grows and changes over the years. (and also what other ideas Brynnie comes up with...)