Never Counting Sheep

    Bed time is a disaster at my home EVERY night.  Every child in my house, including myself, is a  professional staller.  Our excuses include getting water, needing to shower, needing to finish some homework, wanting to shower that night, etc.  Name an excuse not to go to bed, and my siblings and I have probably used it.

Counting sheep never occurs in my house

     My brother is the best at stalling.  Every night, he has a routine that prevents him from going to bed at 9:00 p.m.  Instead, Nick ends up going to bed at 10:00 p.m. His bedtime routine starts at about 8:30 p.m. First, he goes upstairs to brush his teeth and shower.  His showers last about twenty minutes, which is long for a guy, and brushing his teeth takes between five and ten minutes.  By now it's about 9:00 p.m. when he should be going to bed.  Well, it doesn't happen.  Nick sneaks into our family room, and sits behind the couch so that he can watch the T.V. show that my parents are watching.  When he finally gets caught, Nick usually whines and complains that he's not tired until it's around 10:00 p.m. and my dad forces him to go downstairs.  
     My little sisters are really good at stalling too.  Every night they make their ten minute routine about an hour.  Instead of going to bed at 8:00 p.m., it's usually around 9:00 p.m.  The first thing they do is say that they need to finish some math homework.  It is ALWAYS math.  Then they decide that they need to take a shower and brush their teeth for half an hour.  After showering, my little sisters sit in their bed, but they don't actually go to sleep.  They read to each other for another half an hour until they fall asleep holding their books.  As you can see, bedtime is nonexistent in my house.
     I am the next best staller.  I don't pretend that I have homework or have to shower, but I do do the dishes VERY slowly.  My older sister, Katie, and I switch off weeks doing the dishes.  When it's my week for dishes, I make sure that I go very slowly so that I can watch some T.V. shows before going to bed.  When I watch T.V., it makes me feel more relaxed, and it is easier for me to go to bed especially when I am stressed out.  
     Finally there is Katie.  Katie doesn't do anything to stall.  She's learned that stalling just gets her in trouble, and it's not worth it.  As for the rest of us, we haven't learned that lesson quite yet.  I look up to Katie. Not only does she go to bed on time, but she obeys everything that my parents say.  Katie is also NEVER mean to anyone.
     All in all, my family doesn't ever count sheep.  We just stall until we are so tired that we fall asleep with our books, homework, or iPads in hand.  If you ever need to stall, here are some excuses from the best stallers. Toddlers.