I have a fixation about keeping a fairly consistent sleep schedule throughout a weekend or extended holiday, so the first day back doesn’t seem like such a shock.

Personally, I’m pretty good at this. I go to bed at 10:00 and get up at 6:00 with my daughter on normal weekdays; on holidays and weekends I try to go to bed between 10:00 and 11:00 and get up between 7:00 and 8:00. On the other hand, my children and husband do not, nor do they seem particularly interested in participating.

I get that my husband doesn’t want get up at 3:45 on the weekends; I wouldn’t either. But he could go to bed at say 10:00 and get up whenever he wakes up, he only sleeps about 6-7 hours anyway. Instead he makes himself stay awake until midnight or 1:00 on Friday, after having gotten up that morning for work at that ungodly hour.

“Awake” is relative as he’s gotten really good at sitting in the office chair in front of the computer in a balanced lean, hand on the mouse, TV blaring away next to him, fast asleep. He can hold that stance for several hours.

I used to wake him up on my way to bed and suggest he pack it in. He’d deny he’d even been asleep and say, “But it’s the weekend” or “I’m watching this,” and promptly fall back to sleep. I gave up a few years ago, figuring he’s a big boy and can take care of himself.

In spite of their father’s bad example, I’ve tried to instill in my daughters how important it is to have routine sleep habits. I understand they aren’t interested in being anywhere at 7:35am, like the hour high school starts, but they could attempt to go to bed at a somewhat decent hour so they’d wake up at a normal time (non-vampire hours; they seem to come alive around 9:00 at night).

I am one of those mean parents who demand my daughters head for bed during the week at 9:00 so they get a good eight hours. I don’t care if they are in high school and practically of legal adult age (snort of derision), as long as they are living under my roof, they will not be sleeping on their desks at school.

Putting these rules into place hasn’t helped in the least. My oldest is now away at college and I can’t do anything about her bedtime. I quit trying last school year when she was living at home and had only night classes at the local community college.

I did learn over the summer that it was to my advantage to let them manage their own schedules as long as we didn’t have any plans the next day. They would often stay up so late, they said goodbye to their father as he left the house around 4:00 for work. Then the next morning, I had the house to myself for several hours. I have to admit, it was rather nice.

Now that my oldest is out of the house, I know she is going to bed and waking up at different times every day depending on her schedule the next day. Oh well, I’ve done my part and it’s out of my hands. However, my youngest has a year and half more of high school; I still have a narrow opportunity to set her straight. So Friday I once again said, “In order to keep you from waking up in shock on Monday, what time shall I wake you up tomorrow?”

She said, “Try me at 10:00.”

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. She is still committed to her bedtime. You can also read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.” Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.