How to tell someone they are cranky

Inexplicably, my son wakes up early on the weekends. I don't know how he does this. I know why he does it, as he proudly tells me that he gets himself up early so he can have "the most amount of fun on his days off as possible." But this still doesn't explain how he will not move a muscle when his alarm goes off on school mornings yet wake himself up a good half-hour earlier than his alarm on weekends.

I have to keep a close eye on him when he wakes up early because usually he will start getting a little cranky as the day wears on.

You see, my son doesn't believe me when I tell him that he needs nine hours of sleep every night. He complains that he isn't tired at bedtime and that it is unfair that I stay up later than he does. He doesn't think it is true that he really needs that much sleep, which is why I show him articles like this one.

He read the article, and here were his takeaways:

• Did I really used to get 10 hours of sleep every nights? (Yes.)
• I think it would really be OK if you let me stay up late every weekend. (No.)
• You know I really don't sleep, right? I just look at the stars all night and take a short nap. (Sure you do.)
• I'm not really grumpy ever. (Uh-huh.)

For me, the key takeaway was a little different - we've been skipping that calming activity at bedtime. We used to read books together to relax, but lately, it has been him going straight to bed after rushing him through his nighttime routine. Having that calming activity might be something that needs to make a comeback in our household.

What do you do to help calm your children down for bedtime? Tell me in the comments.