A few months ago I was trying to figure out how to make bedtime go better with Nora (3y). She would go very slowly through the process, primarily by being silly. She'd run away playfully when it was time to brush her teeth, or close her mouth and hum, or lie on the ground and wiggle. She wanted to play, I wanted to get her to bed on time.

I decided to start offering her "silly time", which was 5-10min of playing together after she was fully ready for bed. If she wanted silly time she needed to move promptly through the routine, and being silly together was more fun than what she'd been doing.

This worked well, and we would play a range of games:

Standing on a towel on our bed (which is on the floor) while I pulled it [...]

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First published:
March 21st, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jtkt4b6uubRhYjtww/silly-time

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Parent and child playing together with colorful plush toys on couch.

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“Silly Time” by jefftk

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Silly Time” by jefftk