Dylan Field
Keep Bedtime Simple, Let Play Be Wild
Inspired by Dylan Field episode
Dylan Field's design principle—keep simple things simple, make complex things possible—applies perfectly to parenting structure.
Dylan Field's design principle is: keep simple things simple, make complex things possible. Turns out this also applies to not losing your mind as a parent.
Bedtime should be simple. Same time, same routine, every single night. No negotiations. No special circumstances. It's Tuesday, it's 7:30, you're going to bed, this is not a debate.
But somehow we make bedtime into this elaborate choose-your-own-adventure. "Well, it's a special occasion because Grandma called." "Okay, one more book." "Fine, you can sleep in our bed, but just tonight." And just tonight becomes every night, and now you're sleeping perpendicular to a starfished four-year-old wondering where it all went wrong.
Meanwhile, play—the thing that should be wild and open-ended—we've turned into "structured activities." We've scheduled creativity. We've made chaos require a reservation.
Keep bedtime simple. Let play be chaos. Stop doing it backwards.
