September 23, 2025 • 17 mins
Ever feel like screens are stealing your family’s evenings and bedtime is always a chaotic rush?
Diana gets it and she’s found a simple way to hit the “off” switch on distractions.
Hear how unplugging helps kids fall asleep faster, reduces evening meltdowns, speeds up bedtime prep, and even gives Diana a chance to unwind without feeling guilty.
What You’ll Hear:
- Why digital bedtime started for us and how it felt like a game-changer
- How unplugging helps our whole family focus and just get things done
- The sweet ways it’s boosted our reading time and calm before bed
- How we handle emergencies with a landline (yup, a landline!) so phones can stay off
- Tips for easing screen pushback from kids and making it a team thing
Try digital bedtime with your family! Listen for real advice and encouragement, and share this episode with another busy mom who could use a calmer evening.
What can you expect from this podcast and future episodes?
- 15-20 minute episodes to help you tackle your to-do list
- How to declutter in an effective and efficient way
- Guest interviews
- Deep dives on specific topics
Find Diana Rene on social media:
Instagram: @the.decluttered.mom
Facebook: @the.decluttered.mom
Pinterest: @DianaRene
Are you ready for a peaceful and clutter-free home? Watch my FREE training video “Chaos to Calm” to learn how it’s possible! And find all of my resources here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
you're listening to the decluttered mom podcast, a
podcast built specifically forbusy moms by a busy mom.
I'm your host, diana renee, andin 2017, I had my second
daughter and it felt like I wasliterally drowning in my home
okay, not literally, but I feltlike I couldn't breathe with all
of the stuff surrounding me.
(00:28):
Over the next 10 months, I gotrid of approximately 70% of our
household belongings and I havenever looked back.
I kind of feel like I hackedthe mom system and I'm here to
share all the tips, tricks andencouragement.
Let's listen to today's show.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of the Decluttered Mom
(00:53):
podcast.
My name is Diana Renee and I amyour host, and today we are
going to talk about somethingcalled digital bedtime, and this
is something that my kids and Ihave been implementing.
We actually started it in thespring and then over the summer,
we kind of let it go, and thatwas because they had much later
(01:17):
bedtimes over the summer.
It's really interesting becauseI, just for as long as I can
remember as being a mom, italways felt like, no matter how
late I let my kids stay up,whether it was for, like, an
event or a special occasion oranything like that.
They always got up early thenext day and it was like, oh,
like we can't do anything late,like even just like going to
(01:40):
fireworks or something like that, and they go to bed late and
then they're always still up atthe same time, sometimes even
earlier, because they'reovertired, and it felt like that
would never change.
Well, this was the first summermy girls are 8 and 11.
This was the first summer thatthey actually would sleep in,
which was really nice because Iam a night owl and that rhythm
(02:04):
would works really well for me,and so they would stay up
anywhere between like nine, 30and 10, 30, sometimes 11, but
they would sleep in until likenine or nine, 30 and sometimes
10.
Like it was just.
It was like a totally differentexperience for me.
So if you are in the trencheswith like babies or toddlers who
are always up at like 6am, nomatter what, I just wanted to
(02:27):
give you that little glimmer ofhope that it will not always be
that way.
They will sleep in one day andI'm sure when they're, you know,
like full on teenagers sleepingtill two in the afternoon, I
might feel different, but fornow, like it, it was a very nice
and welcome change this summer,so anyway.
So we got away from this overthe summer is my point but in
(02:48):
the spring we started this,maybe when there was like
probably about two months leftin the school year, and then we
re-implemented it once we hitthe school year and it's been so
helpful.
So what we call it is a digitalbedtime, and so helpful.
So what we call it is a digitalbedtime and basically it means
(03:12):
that at a set time whether thatis a set time like an actual
time, like 7 pm, or it's like aset time in your routine, which
is kind of more what we've beendoing, because every evening is
different depending on whatafter school activities or
homework levels or things likethat is going on.
So for us it's after dinner.
So anytime we are done withdinner is when we start digital
(03:33):
bedtime, and what it meanssimply is that we plug in and
turn off our devices.
I have obviously my phone.
I have obviously my phone.
My kids do not have phones, butthey both have an iPad, and so
at digital bedtime they plugthose in, they turn those off
(03:58):
and then that way for the restof the evening.
We don't have these devicesthat are stealing our time,
attention, energy, all of theabove For me.
I will some nights get it backout, like after they go to bed,
because if I have to work orsomething like that, then I will
need my phone.
But I've been really trying to.
For the most part I've reallybeen trying to just let it be
off for the rest of the night,because I just do just like my
(04:22):
nervous system thanks me if Iwill just read and go to bed
earlier, instead of getting thatback out and working and
staying up until two or three inthe morning working, and so
I've been really trying to dothat.
But I will say, sometimes I doget it back out, but I do not
get it back out until after theyare in bed, so that that way
it's just like the whole homeenvironment feels less connected
(04:46):
to the outside world duringthat time, and it's just been
really interesting to see whatthat has done for us.
It's kind of silly in a way.
It's like, oh, we have to shutdown these things in order for
them to not distract us anddominate our lives.
But I'm just being honest andthat's just kind of where we are
(05:07):
.
I think all of us have somelevel of like screen addiction,
but it's just if my phone is on,I have a I I just have like a
automatic response to picking itup for like no reason.
Like sometimes I'll like pickup my phone and I'll like start
scrolling and I'm like, why am Idoing like I don't even this
isn't even interesting to meright now, it's not even fun,
(05:30):
and I'm still doing it and Idon't.
I don't want them to developthat and I I don't really know
how to stop that fully, justbecause technology is like such
a part of everyday lives inevery way at this point.
But it's, it's, it's.
It's it's If I can learn how tomyself shut it down in the
evening and have a more liketech-free evening, not only
(05:54):
model that for them, but teachmyself how to do that, because
it's like it's a struggle, likeit's something I have to learn
how to do, then hopefully, maybethat can be something that they
take from it as they grow, youknow, as they grow up, they can
also continue to do this and itjust be something like that they
do, because mom always did itand that's just what we did.
(06:15):
So that's my hope, I guess.
So the reason we started doingit is that I just felt like in
the spring, it just felt likebedtime was like rushed, like it
felt like we were just likeconstantly, like I was like come
on, you guys like do this andthis and this, and things
weren't getting done in time andthings were getting forgotten.
(06:36):
And then, like everyone wasgetting frustrated and there
were more like meltdowns andalso they were just getting to
bed late, like every night, andI was like what, like?
Why is this happening?
And so I really like sat downto think about it and I was like
what, like why is thishappening?
And so I really like sat downto think about it and I was like
it's the freaking screens, likeit's.
You know, my 11-year-old we lether text with a couple of
(06:57):
friends.
We don't let her text justanyone.
There's, like, I think, fourgirls that we let her text and
so she will text with them andshe FaceTimes with them.
And then my eight-year-old wedon't let her text any friends,
but she is allowed to FaceTime acouple of friends and she is
allowed to text like grandma andNana.
(07:19):
So she will do that a lotbecause they are the people that
she gets to text.
So but for her it's more likegames or she's really into.
She has the art for kids hubapp, so she will sit there and
she could do that for like eighthours in a row if I let her um,
where she just draws, uh, andso she has that.
(07:40):
And then my 11 year old istexting friends and I was
finding, and then me myself Iwas getting sucked into either
work or scrolling on TikTok orscrolling on Instagram or you
know like, there's like abajillion things that I can get
sucked into on my phone, and soI would get sucked into it and I
(08:01):
would forget about like, ohshoot, it's 7.30.
I need to like showers shouldhave already happened and they
haven't even started.
30.
I need to like showers shouldhave already happened and they
haven't even started.
And it just felt like we wereletting screens dominate and
dictate how our evenings weregoing to go, and I was sick of
it.
So we started digital bedtimeEverything gets plugged in,
(08:22):
everything's off, and if you'relike, I can't turn off my phone
because if, like, there's anemergency and someone needs to
get ahold of me, I had the samefeeling.
So we actually got a landline umfor our house and like, so, if
it's after digital bedtime and Ineed to, like, go to the store
or something.
Yes, I'm going to bring myphone and have it on because,
like I ha, like I have to beaccessible, right, if something
(08:44):
happened.
But if I'm home, then the phoneis off and the people in my
life my mom and my sister and,you know, like people that would
need to get a hold of me in anemergency know my landline phone
number and can call thelandline if there's an emergency
.
And that's actually it's nicetoo, because then I can just
(09:04):
have my phone off all nightbecause even if it's 2 am and
there's an emergency, like Iwill wake up to our landline
ringing because nobody evercalls it.
So if anyone does call it, I'mlike what in the world?
Who's calling?
So we do have that.
I don't remember I think it waslike $16 a month.
It was, you know, annoying toadd an extra expense, but also
(09:26):
it wasn't insane like aninsanely high number.
And I just got the cordlessphones.
I think we got like a threepack of them for whatever, I
don't remember how much, but Ijust got them on Amazon.
So it was pretty simple to setup and it's just nice to be able
to then have a little morefreedom with what I choose to do
(09:46):
with my electronics, based onjust having that as like a
backup safety net when it comesto emergencies.
So all of the devices go off and, like I said, for us, for our
routine, it's right after dinner.
So when they're done withdinner, everything is turned off
.
And if they like have one, likeif I, if Miss Eleven really
(10:10):
wants to text one friend onething, like I will let her
obviously, and then I'm like,okay, do your lot.
Like I'll give them like afive-minute heads up.
You have five minutes, we turnthem off, we plug them in and
then that way we have the lastfor us by the end of dinner.
It again depends on the night.
Some nights dinner's done andthey have like two hours until
(10:31):
bedtime.
Other nights, like there wasmultiple practices and we didn't
even get home until it was timeto eat.
So dinner was late and likeit's dinner, it's like bedtime,
right when they're done withdinner, and so it just depends
on that.
But that's why we chose theroutine time instead of like an
actual set time on the schedule.
But if your kids are younger,like it might make more sense if
(10:54):
they're not in a bunch of afterschool activities or sports.
It might make sense to havelike a set time, like 7 pm, and
so once the devices are off, wehave this time to just like
spend together or get the thingsdone that we need to get done.
And it's just amazing how muchquicker things happen when we
(11:14):
don't have our devices.
Like even just doing like PMpickup or just them getting
ready for bed honestly goes somuch faster because they're just
focused on what they'reactually doing versus getting
distracted or me gettingdistracted.
You know like they're doingsomething, they need my help,
but I'm distracted so I say holdon and then it's next thing we
(11:36):
know it's 25 minutes later.
They still need help, they'restill stalled in what they're
doing to get ready for bed.
Because I had to have them holdon because I got distracted by
a work thing on my phone, and soit's been really interesting to
see how much smoother just likea bedtime and evening routines
go, like they're able to justlike go right through their list
(11:59):
they need to get done for theirbackpacks for tomorrow and for
just getting themselves readyand taking showers and being
ready for bed.
And another thing that I havereally, really enjoyed and just
like treasured is that we getway more reading time and we
just do it together.
So, like now, we just have likethis set amount of time before
(12:21):
bed at least 20 minutes, butmost of the time it ends up
being much longer where thegirls and I will sit in my
ginormous recliner that rocksand which I don't know if you
saw on my Instagram stories butI have this huge.
I got this huge recliner.
It's like twice the size of aregular recliner, and I got it
(12:45):
because, as my girls are gettingolder, I get sad that I can't
like sit with them in the samechair anymore because we don't
fit, and so I took them to astore and we sat in it to make
sure that all three of us fitand it's tight, but we all fit
perfectly and it's just been.
It does not fit my room at all.
Like it does not fit the space.
It is not like the cutest chairin the world, but I'm like I
(13:09):
don't care, like I want to holdon to them, being able to like
sit with me as long as possible.
So we have this chair and wejust read together.
We all have, we each have abook and we just silently read.
But we're together and it'sjust been a really nice way to
end our days.
It feels like it's like aconnection point.
(13:29):
Sometimes Miss 11 will readwhile Miss 8 reads out loud to
me, but it's just been really.
It feels like all of ournervous systems are more settled
as we go to sleep.
I wish I could say I sleepbetter, but I don't.
I don't, for whatever reason.
Apparently, screens is not whatmakes me not sleep well, but I
(13:53):
sleep about the same.
I will say, though, that thegirls sleep better when we are
consistently doing this.
I do notice a difference intheir ability to fall asleep,
especially they're able to fallasleep quicker if we do this
versus if they're on iPads rightup until bedtime, and I don't
(14:14):
know that it's necessarily avisually stimulating thing from
the blue light or anything likethat.
I think it's just that they'reable to disconnect and calm
their nervous systems a bit morebefore they go to sleep, and so
this isn't groundbreaking idea.
This is not like oh my gosh,you just turn off your devices a
(14:37):
little bit early.
It sounds silly when you say it, but it's just not something
that we ever did until now, andmaybe you do, and maybe you're
like Diana.
This is insane that you thinkthis is so great, but it's just
been so, so helpful and I don'tknow like now I'm even like next
summer I want to find a way tostill do it somehow, because
(15:00):
it's just been so helpful in somany ways.
And so deal.
My idea Do the digital bedtime.
If you've never tried it before,just give it a shot.
You might get pushback.
My oldest pushed back a littlebit just because she really
enjoys chatting with her friends, but once we started doing it,
she was good with it.
(15:20):
I think she realized she gotmore time for reading number one
, which is like she loves toread, and so that was helpful.
But I also think she justnoticed how it feels different,
and my youngest was like all forit.
So you might get pushback, butif you do just try it Just you
know, talk to them about why youwant to do it and honestly,
(15:43):
like something that wasinteresting to them was the fact
that I was doing it with them.
I think it would have been verydifferent if I was just
enforcing it for them, but thefact that I was also doing it, I
think, made them feel moreexcited about the idea and also
made it feel more fair in theireyes, I guess, which you know.
(16:06):
I just think it was um, I thinkthat that is an important
aspect is, like you, you couldjust have your kids do it, but I
think it adds a new sense ofjust connection and and like
team and also it's just.
It's just a differentenvironment in the house when
nobody has their phone or iPador anything like that connected
(16:30):
to them for a couple hours.
It just feels different thanwhen everybody is looking at
screens and not communicatingwith each other.
So, again, I hope this ishelpful, but it's been something
that I've really enjoyed andhopefully we will continue to do
and I will keep you posted.
If we, you know we'd make anychanges to it that are good or
(16:50):
bad, or we end up changinganything or tweaking anything, I
will let you know, but it'sjust been something that has
been really great for us.
I hope this was helpful and wewill see you next week on the
Decluttered Mom podcast.
Thanks for hanging out andlistening to the Decluttered Mom
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode.
It would mean the world if youcould write a review or share
(17:12):
this episode with a friend oryour Instagram stories, and if
you're on Instagram, be sure tofollow me at thedeclutteredmom
and send me a DM to say hi.
I'd love to hear what youthought about today's episode.
I hope you'll come back nextweek and hang out with us again.
you're listening to the decluttered mom podcast, a
podcast built specifically forbusy moms by a busy mom.
I'm your host, diana renee, andin 2017, I had my second
daughter and it felt like I wasliterally drowning in my home
okay, not literally, but I feltlike I couldn't breathe with all
of the stuff surrounding me.
(00:28):
Over the next 10 months, I gotrid of approximately 70% of our
household belongings and I havenever looked back.
I kind of feel like I hackedthe mom system and I'm here to
share all the tips, tricks andencouragement.
Let's listen to today's show.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of the Decluttered Mom
(00:53):
podcast.
My name is Diana Renee and I amyour host, and today we are
going to talk about somethingcalled digital bedtime, and this
is something that my kids and Ihave been implementing.
We actually started it in thespring and then over the summer,
we kind of let it go, and thatwas because they had much later
(01:17):
bedtimes over the summer.
It's really interesting becauseI, just for as long as I can
remember as being a mom, italways felt like, no matter how
late I let my kids stay up,whether it was for, like, an
event or a special occasion oranything like that.
They always got up early thenext day and it was like, oh,
like we can't do anything late,like even just like going to
(01:40):
fireworks or something like that, and they go to bed late and
then they're always still up atthe same time, sometimes even
earlier, because they'reovertired, and it felt like that
would never change.
Well, this was the first summermy girls are 8 and 11.
This was the first summer thatthey actually would sleep in,
which was really nice because Iam a night owl and that rhythm
(02:04):
would works really well for me,and so they would stay up
anywhere between like nine, 30and 10, 30, sometimes 11, but
they would sleep in until likenine or nine, 30 and sometimes
10.
Like it was just.
It was like a totally differentexperience for me.
So if you are in the trencheswith like babies or toddlers who
are always up at like 6am, nomatter what, I just wanted to
(02:27):
give you that little glimmer ofhope that it will not always be
that way.
They will sleep in one day andI'm sure when they're, you know,
like full on teenagers sleepingtill two in the afternoon, I
might feel different, but fornow, like it, it was a very nice
and welcome change this summer,so anyway.
So we got away from this overthe summer is my point but in
(02:48):
the spring we started this,maybe when there was like
probably about two months leftin the school year, and then we
re-implemented it once we hitthe school year and it's been so
helpful.
So what we call it is a digitalbedtime, and so helpful.
So what we call it is a digitalbedtime and basically it means
(03:12):
that at a set time whether thatis a set time like an actual
time, like 7 pm, or it's like aset time in your routine, which
is kind of more what we've beendoing, because every evening is
different depending on whatafter school activities or
homework levels or things likethat is going on.
So for us it's after dinner.
So anytime we are done withdinner is when we start digital
(03:33):
bedtime, and what it meanssimply is that we plug in and
turn off our devices.
I have obviously my phone.
I have obviously my phone.
My kids do not have phones, butthey both have an iPad, and so
at digital bedtime they plugthose in, they turn those off
(03:58):
and then that way for the restof the evening.
We don't have these devicesthat are stealing our time,
attention, energy, all of theabove For me.
I will some nights get it backout, like after they go to bed,
because if I have to work orsomething like that, then I will
need my phone.
But I've been really trying to.
For the most part I've reallybeen trying to just let it be
off for the rest of the night,because I just do just like my
(04:22):
nervous system thanks me if Iwill just read and go to bed
earlier, instead of getting thatback out and working and
staying up until two or three inthe morning working, and so
I've been really trying to dothat.
But I will say, sometimes I doget it back out, but I do not
get it back out until after theyare in bed, so that that way
it's just like the whole homeenvironment feels less connected
(04:46):
to the outside world duringthat time, and it's just been
really interesting to see whatthat has done for us.
It's kind of silly in a way.
It's like, oh, we have to shutdown these things in order for
them to not distract us anddominate our lives.
But I'm just being honest andthat's just kind of where we are
(05:07):
.
I think all of us have somelevel of like screen addiction,
but it's just if my phone is on,I have a I I just have like a
automatic response to picking itup for like no reason.
Like sometimes I'll like pickup my phone and I'll like start
scrolling and I'm like, why am Idoing like I don't even this
isn't even interesting to meright now, it's not even fun,
(05:30):
and I'm still doing it and Idon't.
I don't want them to developthat and I I don't really know
how to stop that fully, justbecause technology is like such
a part of everyday lives inevery way at this point.
But it's, it's, it's.
It's it's If I can learn how tomyself shut it down in the
evening and have a more liketech-free evening, not only
(05:54):
model that for them, but teachmyself how to do that, because
it's like it's a struggle, likeit's something I have to learn
how to do, then hopefully, maybethat can be something that they
take from it as they grow, youknow, as they grow up, they can
also continue to do this and itjust be something like that they
do, because mom always did itand that's just what we did.
(06:15):
So that's my hope, I guess.
So the reason we started doingit is that I just felt like in
the spring, it just felt likebedtime was like rushed, like it
felt like we were just likeconstantly, like I was like come
on, you guys like do this andthis and this, and things
weren't getting done in time andthings were getting forgotten.
(06:36):
And then, like everyone wasgetting frustrated and there
were more like meltdowns andalso they were just getting to
bed late, like every night, andI was like what, like?
Why is this happening?
And so I really like sat downto think about it and I was like
what, like why is thishappening?
And so I really like sat downto think about it and I was like
it's the freaking screens, likeit's.
You know, my 11-year-old we lether text with a couple of
(06:57):
friends.
We don't let her text justanyone.
There's, like, I think, fourgirls that we let her text and
so she will text with them andshe FaceTimes with them.
And then my eight-year-old wedon't let her text any friends,
but she is allowed to FaceTime acouple of friends and she is
allowed to text like grandma andNana.
(07:19):
So she will do that a lotbecause they are the people that
she gets to text.
So but for her it's more likegames or she's really into.
She has the art for kids hubapp, so she will sit there and
she could do that for like eighthours in a row if I let her um,
where she just draws, uh, andso she has that.
(07:40):
And then my 11 year old istexting friends and I was
finding, and then me myself Iwas getting sucked into either
work or scrolling on TikTok orscrolling on Instagram or you
know like, there's like abajillion things that I can get
sucked into on my phone, and soI would get sucked into it and I
(08:01):
would forget about like, ohshoot, it's 7.30.
I need to like showers shouldhave already happened and they
haven't even started.
30.
I need to like showers shouldhave already happened and they
haven't even started.
And it just felt like we wereletting screens dominate and
dictate how our evenings weregoing to go, and I was sick of
it.
So we started digital bedtimeEverything gets plugged in,
(08:22):
everything's off, and if you'relike, I can't turn off my phone
because if, like, there's anemergency and someone needs to
get ahold of me, I had the samefeeling.
So we actually got a landline umfor our house and like, so, if
it's after digital bedtime and Ineed to, like, go to the store
or something.
Yes, I'm going to bring myphone and have it on because,
like I ha, like I have to beaccessible, right, if something
(08:44):
happened.
But if I'm home, then the phoneis off and the people in my
life my mom and my sister and,you know, like people that would
need to get a hold of me in anemergency know my landline phone
number and can call thelandline if there's an emergency
.
And that's actually it's nicetoo, because then I can just
(09:04):
have my phone off all nightbecause even if it's 2 am and
there's an emergency, like Iwill wake up to our landline
ringing because nobody evercalls it.
So if anyone does call it, I'mlike what in the world?
Who's calling?
So we do have that.
I don't remember I think it waslike $16 a month.
It was, you know, annoying toadd an extra expense, but also
(09:26):
it wasn't insane like aninsanely high number.
And I just got the cordlessphones.
I think we got like a threepack of them for whatever, I
don't remember how much, but Ijust got them on Amazon.
So it was pretty simple to setup and it's just nice to be able
to then have a little morefreedom with what I choose to do
(09:46):
with my electronics, based onjust having that as like a
backup safety net when it comesto emergencies.
So all of the devices go off and, like I said, for us, for our
routine, it's right after dinner.
So when they're done withdinner, everything is turned off
.
And if they like have one, likeif I, if Miss Eleven really
(10:10):
wants to text one friend onething, like I will let her
obviously, and then I'm like,okay, do your lot.
Like I'll give them like afive-minute heads up.
You have five minutes, we turnthem off, we plug them in and
then that way we have the lastfor us by the end of dinner.
It again depends on the night.
Some nights dinner's done andthey have like two hours until
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bedtime.
Other nights, like there wasmultiple practices and we didn't
even get home until it was timeto eat.
So dinner was late and likeit's dinner, it's like bedtime,
right when they're done withdinner, and so it just depends
on that.
But that's why we chose theroutine time instead of like an
actual set time on the schedule.
But if your kids are younger,like it might make more sense if
(10:54):
they're not in a bunch of afterschool activities or sports.
It might make sense to havelike a set time, like 7 pm, and
so once the devices are off, wehave this time to just like
spend together or get the thingsdone that we need to get done.
And it's just amazing how muchquicker things happen when we
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don't have our devices.
Like even just doing like PMpickup or just them getting
ready for bed honestly goes somuch faster because they're just
focused on what they'reactually doing versus getting
distracted or me gettingdistracted.
You know like they're doingsomething, they need my help,
but I'm distracted so I say holdon and then it's next thing we
(11:36):
know it's 25 minutes later.
They still need help, they'restill stalled in what they're
doing to get ready for bed.
Because I had to have them holdon because I got distracted by
a work thing on my phone, and soit's been really interesting to
see how much smoother just likea bedtime and evening routines
go, like they're able to justlike go right through their list
(11:59):
they need to get done for theirbackpacks for tomorrow and for
just getting themselves readyand taking showers and being
ready for bed.
And another thing that I havereally, really enjoyed and just
like treasured is that we getway more reading time and we
just do it together.
So, like now, we just have likethis set amount of time before
(12:21):
bed at least 20 minutes, butmost of the time it ends up
being much longer where thegirls and I will sit in my
ginormous recliner that rocksand which I don't know if you
saw on my Instagram stories butI have this huge.
I got this huge recliner.
It's like twice the size of aregular recliner, and I got it
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because, as my girls are gettingolder, I get sad that I can't
like sit with them in the samechair anymore because we don't
fit, and so I took them to astore and we sat in it to make
sure that all three of us fitand it's tight, but we all fit
perfectly and it's just been.
It does not fit my room at all.
Like it does not fit the space.
It is not like the cutest chairin the world, but I'm like I
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don't care, like I want to holdon to them, being able to like
sit with me as long as possible.
So we have this chair and wejust read together.
We all have, we each have abook and we just silently read.
But we're together and it'sjust been a really nice way to
end our days.
It feels like it's like aconnection point.
(13:29):
Sometimes Miss 11 will readwhile Miss 8 reads out loud to
me, but it's just been really.
It feels like all of ournervous systems are more settled
as we go to sleep.
I wish I could say I sleepbetter, but I don't.
I don't, for whatever reason.
Apparently, screens is not whatmakes me not sleep well, but I
(13:53):
sleep about the same.
I will say, though, that thegirls sleep better when we are
consistently doing this.
I do notice a difference intheir ability to fall asleep,
especially they're able to fallasleep quicker if we do this
versus if they're on iPads rightup until bedtime, and I don't
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know that it's necessarily avisually stimulating thing from
the blue light or anything likethat.
I think it's just that they'reable to disconnect and calm
their nervous systems a bit morebefore they go to sleep, and so
this isn't groundbreaking idea.
This is not like oh my gosh,you just turn off your devices a
(14:37):
little bit early.
It sounds silly when you say it, but it's just not something
that we ever did until now, andmaybe you do, and maybe you're
like Diana.
This is insane that you thinkthis is so great, but it's just
been so, so helpful and I don'tknow like now I'm even like next
summer I want to find a way tostill do it somehow, because
(15:00):
it's just been so helpful in somany ways.
And so deal.
My idea Do the digital bedtime.
If you've never tried it before,just give it a shot.
You might get pushback.
My oldest pushed back a littlebit just because she really
enjoys chatting with her friends, but once we started doing it,
she was good with it.
(15:20):
I think she realized she gotmore time for reading number one
, which is like she loves toread, and so that was helpful.
But I also think she justnoticed how it feels different,
and my youngest was like all forit.
So you might get pushback, butif you do just try it Just you
know, talk to them about why youwant to do it and honestly,
(15:43):
like something that wasinteresting to them was the fact
that I was doing it with them.
I think it would have been verydifferent if I was just
enforcing it for them, but thefact that I was also doing it, I
think, made them feel moreexcited about the idea and also
made it feel more fair in theireyes, I guess, which you know.
(16:06):
I just think it was um, I thinkthat that is an important
aspect is, like you, you couldjust have your kids do it, but I
think it adds a new sense ofjust connection and and like
team and also it's just.
It's just a differentenvironment in the house when
nobody has their phone or iPador anything like that connected
(16:30):
to them for a couple hours.
It just feels different thanwhen everybody is looking at
screens and not communicatingwith each other.
So, again, I hope this ishelpful, but it's been something
that I've really enjoyed andhopefully we will continue to do
and I will keep you posted.
If we, you know we'd make anychanges to it that are good or
(16:50):
bad, or we end up changinganything or tweaking anything, I
will let you know, but it'sjust been something that has
been really great for us.
I hope this was helpful and wewill see you next week on the
Decluttered Mom podcast.
Thanks for hanging out andlistening to the Decluttered Mom
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode.
It would mean the world if youcould write a review or share
(17:12):
this episode with a friend oryour Instagram stories, and if
you're on Instagram, be sure tofollow me at thedeclutteredmom
and send me a DM to say hi.
I'd love to hear what youthought about today's episode.
I hope you'll come back nextweek and hang out with us again.
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