I will struggle getting my almost 7-year-old son to sleep by eight o’clock. It seems there is a magic window. If we eat by five and I start slowing down his activities by six, there is a good chance that he will fall asleep soon after reading stories at seven-thirty.
If I don’t have dinner ready until six or seven and slow down doesn’t begin until eight or eight-thirty, then he seems to get a second wind that keeps himawake and active till ten or ten-thirty at night.
The next day is difficult for him. It is hard for him to get up, eat breakfast, and get to school on time. He is tired and more irritable the entire day.
What is happening?
“A child will flourish if there is a regular rhythm between the will working during the day when it is awake and the will building up the growing organism in sleep. Then the body can become that instrument for which the child was already longing before birth.”
(Norbert Glas, p. 76)