A “night owl” family has gone viral for its unconventional lifestyle. After seeing a video in which the family enjoyed dinner at 9:30 p.m. and the kids went to bed close to midnight, some people described the family’s routine as a “nightmare” or simply “bad parenting.” However, others pointed out that everyone’s different, and this routine seems to work for them.
A viral video shows the ‘night owl’ family getting back from a walk at 8:45 p.m.
At a time when many families with young children are getting ready for bed, Emily Boazman and her family are likely returning from an evening walk or preparing for dinner. On June 30, Emily shared her family’s typical nightly routine on TikTok, and it was surprisingly controversial.
After Emily and her kids returned from a walk at 8:45 p.m., her husband got home at around 9 p.m. Once he was home, the family started getting ready for dinner. Emily also tidied up her room at almost 9:30 p.m. Shortly after that, the family had dinner together. They had some downtime before bed, and by the time the kids started getting ready to sleep, it was nearly midnight.
Her family’s routine has gotten a lot of hate.
Who knew that staying up late could be so controversial? On Instagram, Emily explained that she has “never been a morning person.” But on the platform, people slammed her for having her kids adhere to that same routine. One critic told the mom that her family’s lifestyle actually looked like “super lazy parenting.”
“What you’re doing is not great at all for your children,” they said. “The eating so late, the ridiculous bedtimes. Children need adequate sleep to grow, to process what they have done and learnt during the day.”
Another person seemed to agree, writing: “Narcissistic, lazy parenting — setting up those children to fail in the real world. The youngest was ready for bed before the attention starved adults even started filming … this is not ok.”
Several others told the mom that this nighttime routine might be her preference, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for her kids. “….this is YOUR schedule. Not your children’s,” one person commented. “Children need appropriate feedings and bed times, to rest and develop.”
A fourth critic accused the parents of “setting [their] kids up to struggle with how the world is structured, jobs etc. later in life.”
Emily addressed the criticism.
@emilyboazman These videos have caused soooooo much hate toward us, it’s insane. Like morning people are MEAN.😅😂😂😂 #nightowls #nighttimeroutine #bedtimeroutine ♬ original sound – Emily Boazman
The unconventional routine works for their family, in part because their kids are homeschooled. The kids don’t have set bedtimes, but Emily later clarified that they still have “a lot of rules and boundaries.”
“Our household is not a ‘do as you please’ household,” the mom explained on Instagram. “Jake and I decide their bedtime, so while it’s different every night, it’s USUALLY around midnight and they don’t get to decide to stay up til 3, etc.”
She added that because her children are homeschooled, they “never have to be anywhere super early.” Although the routine works for them, other people could not accept it. Emily added that she has “NEVER had such a negative reaction, or such mean and hateful comments and DMs in response to a post.”
But she concluded that if others don’t understand her family’s routine, that’s OK. “This is our normal … and I know people can’t wrap their head around it, and that’s okay … everyone does things differently in their own household,” she stated. “And this is how we do things in ours.”
Despite the haters, some people could relate to the family’s routine.
It might look like a “nightmare” to some morning people, but for other families, it’s just normal. Some parents found Emily’s videos about her family’s nighttime pretty validating. “From a mom of 5, we did the EXACT same thing when our kids were younger!!” one mom responded to Emily’s post. “I homeschooled them for a few years, and during that time, there was no set bed time.”
Another parent wrote: “Actually, seeing this makes me feel good bc I can’t be that family that puts kids to bed super early! Everything happens at night for us!”
A third person added: “Night owls here too, also homeschoolers, we are happy healthy and don’t stress about norms. Our mornings and evenings look just like yours.”
Some parents added that they’ve been made to feel guilty for eating dinner too late. “This video makes me feel so much better about my life,” someone else wrote on TikTok. “I feel like people eat at 5 p.m. and we never do lol … 8 p.m. at best!”
