You have created a brilliant plan. You have started to put your bedtime routine in motion and you actually get the kids in bed for a few nights in a row…. but what if you fail. What do you do then?
This was me last night. I had take 5 giant steps forward towards bedtime and last night felt like a giant leap back as we failed to reach our deadline of 10:15 p.m.. I’m not talking a few minutes off, I am talking about a few hours off. My daughter was still “going to use the bathroom” after midnight last night. Ugghhh!!!
You might have had a night like that already.
So do you give up and say this is hopeless?
No! You claim the promises of God.
Proverbs 24:16-18 says,
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…”
The key here is “riseth up again”. Don’t stay down. Don’t give up.
So where do we go from here?
First, Identify Why
Identify why you did not reach your bedtime goal. For my family it was due to an emergency with the car which took longer than expected to fix. This then threw off the rest of the evening, pushing dinner back to 10 p.m.!
Your why might be different but pay attention to any self-sabotage that you might be doing consciously or unconsciously like starting a two hour movie one hour before bedtime with the kids.
Second, Affirm Your Goal
Not only do you need to go back and read your bedtime goal aloud to yourself, but affirm it again with your kids. Practice makes perfect so let them know that you are all are still working towards the goal. Remind yourself of all the reasons why you are working towards this bedtime goal to help you keep the course. Oh, and don’t forget to remind your kids about the reward ;-).
Third, Practice without Reproach
According to the Becoming a Master Student Textbook “If you fail or forget, let go of any self-judgement. Just keep practicing the new habit and allow whatever time it takes to make a change” (p. 23). Trust the process. It adds that “Going back to square one doesn’t mean you’ve failed”. You don’t fail until you stop trying. So get back up and try again!