Five, Six, Pick up Sticks

More from my "7 Habits for Healthy Kids Presentation." This next one is one of the toughest, but one of the best for your kids. In order to successfully get your kids to go to bed, you may have to lead by example. Good Luck!

Habit # 6 -- Teach your kids that sleep is a necessity, not a luxury.

Imagine you are in charge of a big factory making tires. You make tires all day, every day, and you have more orders than you know what to do with. From the time you open, to the time you close, you focus on getting as many tires made as you possibly can in order to keep up.
That much tire-makin’ will naturally wear out some machines and some people. Both of which will have to be replaced. You will also need to get all the by-product and trash out of your factory and get it cleaned (the factory) in order to maintain productivity. If you are up to your neck in tires during the day, when are you going to clean the place, change the trash, and put in new machines/fix the old ones? That’s right, at night. It is the only time available. What do you think is going to happen to your factory if you never close, or if you aren’t closed down long enough to get these essential tasks done?

Your body is no different. When you sleep you grow muscle, process emotions and learning, and lose weight. Those things do not happen when you are awake, just like in the factory, you are too busy during your waking hours. If you don’t get enough sleep, over time you suffer and your health will suffer. You must teach your kids (and yourself) that short changing your downtime doesn’t make you tough, it makes you unhealthy. It is even worse for kids. They aren’t maintaining what they already have, in terms of size and strength; they are in the process of addition. Here are several ideas for getting and enforcing a bed time:

• Maintain a daily sleep schedule and consistent bedtime routine.
• Make the bedroom environment the same every night and throughout the night (lights, temp, shades, etc.)
• Set limits that are consistent, communicated and enforced.
• No television or gaming right before bed.

There are many, many tips and tricks for helping kids to get to sleep and stay asleep. E-mail me if you are looking for more, or if you have one I haven't mentioned.
Next week: more stuff!