It Works For Me: Junior Babysitters

I love sleep.

I am one of those folks who require at least 8 hours of sleep to fully function. Actually 8.5 hours is my ideal. If I could pick, I would sleep from 11pm to 7:30am. That would be a perfect sleep schedule for me. Perfect seldom happens in my life.

Motherhood has taught me that I really can function on less sleep, if the priority is great enough. Well, of course, caring for my babies is a great enough reason to get less sleep. I have experienced various levels of sleep deprivation due to newborns and sick kids through the years.

So, I thought that I could manage on less sleep due to my new job. It would only be a couple hours less on the nights I was working. So, I figured it would be Ok. I could still function.

Wrong.

The first Friday night I worked late, I had big plans for the following Saturday. I attempted to get only 6 hours of sleep, and then go about my busy day. It did not work. I ended up with a monstrous headache. It took me 2 days to recover from that headache.

Considering the job was suppose to enhance our life, not hinder it, I needed a new plan. There is no way I am going to function with headaches from lack of sleep.

This week, I decided to try setting an alarm to wake me up 8 hours after I go to bed, regardless of the time. It is working great to get 8 hours of sleep a night (sometimes still interrupted by the kids). I am feeling better physically with that system.

A big challenge is to alter our family's schedule to allow me to get enough sleep to function. When I work Friday & Saturday evenings, The Referee is home the following days to manage the morning routine with the kids. When I work Sunday and Monday evenings, The Referee leaves for work early the following mornings.

I needed a solution to be able to sleep in a little longer on Monday & Tuesday mornings, even though the children would be awake and ready to tackle the day. As I weighed out my need for sleep, versus my responsibilities, an idea emerged...

Junior Babysitters

The older 3 kids are already fully capable of preparing bowls of cereal or frozen waffles for breakfast. The older 4 kids can operate cartoons on Netflix. My bed-wetters can already manage changing from Pull-ups to underwear first thing the morning. Everyone can brush their own teeth. For the most part, I only supervise the morning routine.

So, I decided to enlist the help of my older kids to allow me to sleep longer in the mornings. Older kids are often a great help with younger siblings. In moderation, helping with younger siblings teaches older siblings how to care for others, and basic parenting skills. In excess, being dumped with care of younger siblings can lead to much resentment.

I do not want my older girls to resent caregiving tasks. My solution is to pay them for babysitting. Those 2 mornings, Jersey #1 and Jersey #2 are responsible for serving their youngest two siblings breakfast, including milk to drink, and helping them clear their spots at the table when the meal is over. (Jersey #3 is responsible for himself). They watch their younger siblings to make sure they are staying safe. In return, they receive extra pay in their weekly allowance/commission.

Since they admire the teens that we hire for occasional babysitting, they are thrilled at their new "Junior Babysitter" role. Jersey #3 is proud to be independent in this scenario. Jersey #2 is more thrilled by the increase in pay. Jersey #1 likes the slower-paced mornings, since we also adjusted our school day to start later.

I am amazed by how well this system is working. I am able to sleep in an extra hour or two those mornings, to get the sleep I need. The kids enjoy their relaxed mornings. (Our house is already kid-friendly, so they have free roam indoors.) So far, I have only been woken due to Jersey #5's soiled diaper status. I wake refreshed and ready to tackle the day. The kids greet me with pride of their job well done.

What a team!