Quintessentially Quilly

This is the Friday, Late Night Edition of Flashback Friday
brought to you by Quilldancer.

Flashback Friday is brought to us by Linda of Mocha With Linda. This is the meme that takes us back in time to the days of our youth. Linda says, This meme’s purpose is to have us take a look back and share about a specific time or event in our lives. It will be fun to see how similar – or different – our experiences have been!

What was bedtime like when you were growing up? Were your parents strict in enforcing bedtimes? Were you a difficult one to get to bed? Did your parents share stories about getting you to sleep when you were a baby? When did your parents turn bedtime over to you? Were there any special rituals/routines a parent did – books, singing a special song, etc.? Nightlights, music, special doll/blanket or other things? Did you have your own bed or did you share with a sibling? Did you have nighttime fears and bad dreams? How did you handle them? Did you ever walk or talk in your sleep? Feel free to also share any routines you have done with your kids.

My brother and sisters all gripe about having to go to bed at 8:30 in the evening, even in the Summer time and all the other kids in the neighborhood were out playing.  I don’t have that memory.  I was in bed by 8:30 p.m. on school nights until the end of the third grade.  In the Summer I always set my own bedtime and got up whenever.

When I was 14 I went to live with my father (before that I lived with my maternal grandmother).  My father got up every morning at 3:00 a.m.  He was a logger and he had to be in the mountain ready to work at first light.  Because he got up so early, he was usually in bed by 8:30 p.m., which is likely why my siblings had to be, too.

All of my siblings were grown and had families of their own by the time I was 14.  I likely wasn’t sent to bed because there was no one for me to fight with or help me make noise that would keep dad awake.  I was expected to be quiet and, if possible stay in my bedroom, but I didn’t have a set bedtime.  However — and this is crucial — I did have a set “get up” time, and the excuse “too tired” wasn’t accepted.  I had chores and I was expected to be awake and execute  them properly before going to school.  That means I generally put myself to bed  between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m.

My step-mother (the second one, Shirley) and I liked to watch Nightstalker, which came on at 11:00 p.m. so on Thursday nights I went to bed at 9:00 p.m., but set my alarm for 11:00 p.m.  Shirley would sleep on the couch.  When my alarm went off I would wake her, make us tea (herbal) and we’d watch the show, then head for our beds.  We did the same thing for the late, late movie if it was playing a thriller.