Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death. The higher the interest rate and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
You know your kids are a mess when they don’t sleep. That’s why you follow the bedtime ritual religiously. You know that kids get into trouble at night, if left to their own devices. That’s why your teenager has a curfew that you enforce with an iron fist.
And yet here you are, up late again, mindlessly watching TV. Here you are, tired in the morning—again—because you were up late on your phone. You could have gone to bed, you knew you should have gone to bed, but you didn’t.
Who suffers? Your kids do. Because you’re grouchy. Because you don’t have energy. Because you’re behind. Because maybe they even sense that you’re a hypocrite! If you want to be a better parent, start going to bed earlier. Give yourself a bedtime that you honor and respect and enforce. Value sleep. Take care of yourself. Everyone in your life will benefit.