Nighttime Toddler Birthday Parties Need To Stop Right Now

shutterstock_177666851My son is two years old and goes to bed while it’s still light outside. Though some parents may think us over-the-top, he has had a bedtime of 7 PM ever since he was born.

Laugh all you want, but IT GETS RESULTS, I tell you. He and his younger one-year-old brother sleep from 7 PM to 7 AM every single night without an issue. I’m positive that it’s because we have been so crazy with their sleep schedule for all of these years. A lot of hassle and lack of flexibility in the early years means I get 12 hours free to myself every night. I’ll take it.

Six months ago, my son was invited to a child’s birthday party at a jumping/bouncing activity center place. The child went his daycare and was older than him. Since the kid was turning four or five, I thought that a birthday party time of 7 PM-9 PM was a little odd, but hey””I have a toddler, what do I know?

So, my two-year-old wasn’t able to attend this birthday party until 9 PM because he was sleeping peacefully in his little crib. No big. But then the phenomenon happened again with an even younger kid.

My son was just invited to another birthday party for a toddler turning two at his daycare. Since we live in a smallish town, the invitation was to the same type of jumping activity center that I can only assume offers after-hours party rentals to rent out the entire place. So, in theory, the idea sounds amazing cool. But I can’t understand what a bunch of preschoolers are going to do until 9 PM, besides jump around and cry and have a meltdown because they’re tired. Or maybe that’s just my kid.

Suffice it to say, my son won’t be attending this after-hours event. He has been invited to a few afternoon parties, and we are happy to go. But there’s no way in hell I’m going to keep my kid up past his bedtime just so he can have a public freakout and ruin a birthday party. Really, I’m doing the birthday boy a favor.

(Image: Nataliya Peregudova/Shutterstock)

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