Nobody likes bedtimes.
Nope, nothing’s worse than lying under the covers in hot, flannel PJs with wide, unblinking eyes while the late autumn sun slowly droops outside your window. As the sky fades to a burning orange the streetlights flicker on, the moon pops out, and eventually the thin crack of light under your door flicks to black.
And then you just lie there, staring at the ceiling, flipping your pillow, tossing and turning, aching and burning.
Nobody likes bedtimes.
Come on, whether it’s mom chasing a giggling, diaper-clad junior around the coffee table or dad forcibly finger-peeling Xbox remotes out of pre-teen paws, it’s all the same when you’re a kid. The fun stops when the head drops.
Yes, bedtime is the secret, locked gateway to a magical mystery tour of late night television, dark downtown scenes, and unknown journeys into all things strange, exotic, and sinful.
But it’s that buildup and curiosity that makes it great when you finally do break on through to the other side.
Do you remember birthday sleepovers where everybody drank Cokes after 9pm and watched R-rated movies? Did you have faraway little league tournaments where parents cracked beer coolers after the game while kids terrorized the hotel whirlpool and sauna? Did you celebrate New Year’s with cousins all shaking hips and eating chips as the next year hit?
Staying up past your bedtime when you’re a kid is like getting on a rickety roller-coaster and riding it down a dark tunnel heading somewhere you’ve never been and were always told not to go. But then you find sugar rushes, skinny dips, heart-to-hearts, and non-stop giggles all waiting for you deep in the blackness, just around the bend.
AWESOME!
Photos from: here, here, and here
31 Comments
December 3, 2009 at 12:49 am
This is pretty much the sole reason I work second shift now. I still love the feeling that I’m up too late!
December 4, 2009 at 12:50 am
When I was little (like 2 or 3), my mom and I went to my grandparents’ house for a weekend. I was up pretty late and mom assured my grandparents that I was NEVER allowed to stay up that late at home! The tv was on and the “buh-duh-duh-duh” Tonight Show theme song came on. Without even looking up from my toys, I said “heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny!” :D Poor momma!! I guess I’ve always been a late owl!
December 4, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Rofl, really?? Yea, I guess that is kinda bad for your “night owl” mom.
December 3, 2009 at 1:47 am
Hah! I just began a sleep schedule the other day that involves me waking up at around 11pm and going to bed at 4pm. Nice.
December 3, 2009 at 1:58 am
Wow I just caught up on 1000-621. Quite a hike. Pretty AWESOME stuff here though!
And to comment on this, I remember being young and begging my parents to let me stay up for the end of Red Wing’s games. It was always a treat when they did.
December 3, 2009 at 2:02 am
Lots of good times to be had, indeed.
December 3, 2009 at 2:55 am
I always find it funny when people complain that their kids wake up at 5am. Then you ask them what time they go to bed and they say 7pm.
December 3, 2009 at 10:53 am
I know people like that too! I have never understood that. And then if you visit them, you have sneak in at 8pm because if Jimmy hears the door opening, all bets are off!
December 3, 2009 at 4:19 pm
yeah, but I’ve come to realise no matter what time you put a kid to bed, most of them will NEVER sleep in! Example: we had my boyfriend’s nephew over one night and my boyfriend let him stay up til 4 IN THE MORNING to play legos!! He woke up at 7!!
December 3, 2009 at 3:33 am
Wow, just got blasted with nostalgia! Staying up late did used to be something special in childhood. Now, in college, it’s an unpleasant chore to do homework – except for the 24 hour improv show I went to! Staying up all night to watch improv theater, through dawn and into the late morning was magical.
December 3, 2009 at 3:50 am
It’s not only awesome when you’re a kid :)
December 3, 2009 at 5:26 am
what a memory blast that is, indeed!
staying up until early morning when my eyes are closing just to say you watched the sun come up…
endless sleepovers including junk food, naughty stories, lots of giggling and of course late night sleeping!
i think i love sleeping too much these days to even consider the above options:)
dear job, oh how much i love thee….
December 3, 2009 at 6:15 am
even now i get a little excited when im up late
December 3, 2009 at 7:40 am
I LOVED staying up past my bedtime, I set up a little cubby underneath my bed where I’d read by torchlight and snack on food I’d stowed away during the day. Ahh those were the days.
December 3, 2009 at 9:11 am
I must be old because it doesn’t hold the same fascination anymore. *yawn*
December 3, 2009 at 11:14 am
Even as a kid I was a night owl. Staying up past bedtime was such a thrill. The world stops and you hear the little fairies from the story books and you even see them too, if you believed that’s what the stars were. Staying up late’s great now, but nothing like it was then.
December 3, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I agree with Jules, its still fun staying up past bedtime as an adult. And my favorite memory as a kid was staying up to watch LA Law. OK, maybe I didn’t have much of a life.
December 4, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Ha! That’s great! I used to sneak out of my bed and hide behind the couch to watch Moonlighting and Bosom Buddies (I’m totally dating myself, aren’t I?).
December 3, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I looooved this as a kid.
Now I love the opposite. Getting to bed before 9:30 leaves me a feeling of such accomplishment and showing the world that I’m a responsible adult. I get optimistic about a productive day at work (yeah right) and for once having my eyes open at least 90% in the AM.
December 3, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I stayed up playing my Sega Genesis late years ago.
December 3, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I remember the first time my mom and dad let my sister and I stay up while they went to bed. We thought we were so cool! We watched Saturday Night Live and I think we both were asleep about 15 minutes after my parents were in bed, but it was awesome!!!
December 3, 2009 at 4:22 pm
When I was really little, my favorite was when I was allowed to stay up late to watch Amercia’s Funniest Home videos :)
December 3, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Yup Saturday Night – Hockey Night in Canada, what a memory
December 3, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I’m 13, and I LOVE staying up late. I usually sneak my laptop up there, and click away!
December 3, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Haha my experiences of staying up late as a kid were never that fun. you make them sound magical. staying up late is fun now, though.
December 4, 2009 at 4:46 am
Haha! I used to sneak out into the living room to catch some late night shows.
I remember i’ll cover my mother’s door gaps with towels before switching on the television. LOL!
Years later i was told by my mother she knew it all along. =.=”
December 4, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Oh my goodness I love this!!! This is SO true!!!! And how about hiding that flashlight under your blankets just so you could read your favorite bedtime book? My favorite of all the ideas posted so far. Thank you publishers for this post! And for never failing to make my day. Love it.
December 5, 2009 at 8:43 pm
My parents knew I’d try to stay up as late as possible growing up, and they used this to their advantage. If I got good grades, they’d let me stay up 30 minutes later. Or, they’d ask me to clean one of the pets’ cages five minutes before I was supposed to go to bed.
My best childhood memory is actually the time I had to draw a bird for my grade to homework. I reproduced a sticker of Flit from Pocahontas so accurately that my dad thought I’d used a stamp, and as a reward he let me stay up until 10 pm! (My actual bedtime was around 7 pm at the time.)
March 16, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Good site. I got a lot of good material here. I have been watching this thing for awhile. It’s fascinating how it keeps changing, yet some of the core elements remain the same. Have you seen much change since Google made their most recent acquisition in the field?
May 7, 2010 at 1:21 am
I’m 15 and I’m supposed to be sleeping now lol.
August 22, 2010 at 10:00 am
As a little kid, staying up past my bedtime gave me a pretty epic high. But now, as a 14 year old, my mum has recently set my bedtime to 10pm so I can catch up on 6 months of sleep. Going to bed 2 hours before the time I used to induces a smile on my part, as well as astonishment. :)