Staying Up Late

Tonight we met a few other families out for an Independence Day parade. It was a fun night out, the kids had a ball with their bags out waiting for candy. The entertainment gave me and my friends a chance to chat while the kids eagerly watched the upcoming floats.

After the parade, the community organizers were going to show a movie, starting around 9:30pm. This start time is a good hour past my preschoolers bedtime. The other parents were fine with the late night, but I'm not quite ready for the late night pursuit with my kids. In addition the fact that they aren't too fun if they don't get enough sleep, I had some things I needed to do.

I still count on bedtime as a time go get some work done. For me, it is often paid work. But for many other working parents I know, post-bedtime is often just a time to get laundry or other household work done.

It would have been fun to stick around for the movie. But, for now, I think I have my priorities in place. It isn't always easy to switch gears and try to get some work done, but it is the schedule I chose so that I could have more time to go out and do fun things with the kids.