My mom had a not-strictly-enforced bedtime for us when we were teenagers. If my memory is correct, it was 9:00 up until we were 14 and then 10:00 after that. I was a little embarrassed about it because none of my friends had bedtimes at that age. But my mom never made a big deal about it. It really only seemed like the betimes were general guidelines, but we could actually go to bed whenever we wanted.
But right around my 14th birthday, when I was enjoying being able to stay up a bit later, was the time my sister started really taking control over me. And one night when I was headed to bed at about 10:30, she followed me into my bedroom and questioned why I thought it was OK to be up past my bedtime.
I think we both new she was asking a somewhat ridiculous question, since we both stayed up past our bedtimes all the time. I didn’t really know how to respond to her. I was a little bit annoyed that she was giving me a hard time over something so unimportant, but at the same time, I kind of liked it.
After a moment of confusion, I decided to play my submissive role, and I apologized for being up late and told her I would be more careful about my bedtime in the future.
The following day, at around 9:30, she came up to me to remind me that my bedtime was getting close and I should start getting ready for bed. I did as I was told. I was in bed a little early that night and she followed me into my room again. This time she told me she was pleased.
Then she said that it was going to be a new “rule” that every night at 9:30 I had to start getting ready for bed, and it I wasn’t in bed with the lights out by 10:00 I would be punished.
She had never made a rule for me before, and I saw this as the start of something new.
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