Last night I got almost no sleep, and it was my fault. The boys are getting excited about an upcoming Hogwarts summer camp. Normally we precede this event with a one to two month long Harry Potter marathon, where we listen to all 7 unabridged books back to back on cd. It’s like the world of Harry Potter comes to live in our house for a couple of months – complete with the British accent.
This year we didn’t get a chance to listen to the books – it’s just been a busy spring and early summer.
It almost doesn’t feel like summer without the echoey voice of Jim Dale reading J.K.’s words to us as we go about our day.
The boys have taken it upon themselves to get into the mood and have been playing the Harry Potter wii game and watching the movies.
Although I suspect they are watching the movies more to get hints for the game rather than because they enjoy the films.
Bedtime rolls around, and the boys are faced with the question they get every night, “What are you watching while you go to sleep?” I know, I shouldn’t let the kids watch movies while falling asleep, but it keeps the peace in the house at night and all parents should have some benign bad habits. Bobo wants Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
We’ve been through this scene several months ago – they watch Harry Potter while going to be, they get scared and they all wind up in bed with us. I say that. Bobo insists that it won’t happen this time, that was a long time ago, they’re bigger boys now and Ebby backs him up.
OK, I say. I’m always willing to give the kids a second chance. “But you are not sleeping in our room if you’re scare,” I say. They fall asleep, no problem. Around 10:30 Bobo comes rushing into our room looking scared.
“Uh . . . uh,” you can see him contemplating what to say. “Just wanted to say good night and give you a hug.” That’s not what he wanted, but he goes back to bed anyway.
11:30, Ebby comes into our room. He’s not as easy to convince to go back, and one kid in the room with us isn’t so bad. But man, he tossed and turned and kicked and hit and thrashed and fussed all night. At one point he woke up saying that he was scared. I got no sleep.
So that’s it! For the time being, no more Harry Potter at night before bed!
I like to cut off any kind of video screen at least an hour before bedtime, for the little guy and myself. It helps my brain wind down. It doesn't always happen that way, especially since we got hooked watching the Avatar cartoon series on Netflix. But at the very least we do about 15 - 20 of reading in bed with him. He won't even listen to the Harry Potter books, let alone watch the movies. Way too scary for him in his opinion! Fortunately, Hogwarts is fun even if you aren't steeped in Potter lore. We are really looking forward to seeing Bobo and Ebby there!!!
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