Photo by AshBayGrammy

Yawn. My first grader woke me up at 6:45 a.m. today -- 15 minutes earlier than I normally have to drag him out of bed during the week for school. And he'd be sleeping way longer than that during the week if I let him.

I guess it's payback for the weekdays.

Why, oh, why can't kids sleep later during the weekends?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm hoping for a nap.

Sleepovers are a normal part of a big kid's social scene. But what age is appropriate for the first sleepover—particularly if you don't know the other child's parents very well?

This was a much debated point this week on CafeMom: An anonymous mom wondered if her 6-year-old daughter was too young to have a friend from school sleepover; she was particularly concerned because she had never met the friend's parents...

Photo from Mazzali

Came across these beautiful rooms for teenagers, alá the sustainable and eco-friendly Italian furniture company Mazzali, and I lived with these pretty bedrooms IN MY MIND for a little while.

Sleep apnea—when a child pauses in breathing during sleep—can be terrifying, as some CafeMoms have experienced firsthand.

Now, a new study suggests that children who are both overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Photo by superpowers1279

Many CafeMoms think that opposite sex toddlers sharing a bedroom is no big deal, but the room is split on whether opposite sex teen siblings should share quarters. Some states even have laws that prohibit it.

But here's a new kid sleeping question that popped up in Advice for Moms -- same sex siblings sleeping in the same bed.

jen_wikstrom's 5 and 6 year old sons share a room, and they always end up sleeping in the same bed, even though they each have their own. They are not foster children (there are laws governing those types of sleeping arrangements). She wants to know if it's okay to move the bed out of the room and let the boys sleep on the one bed, since they always end up there anyway.

Photo from D*S

Love this red, white, and blue themed big boy's room — although with a few slightly more feminine accents, it could easily work as a girl's room too. Love that.

Photo by The-Autism-Mom

We just had a breakthrough parenting moment in our house.

My 6 year old can put himself to bed. The other night he put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth, "read" a book, and put himself into bed.

I am in complete amazement at my kid's independence.

Photo by SuperPickle

The bedtime routine has had its ups and downs around our house.

In fact, we're just getting past the long months of our youngest getting out of bed a hundred times to cry, "But I wanna be with yooouu," which followed the long months of our oldest getting up fifty times to say, "But Mom, I just have one more question."

Things seem to be a little smoother this month (knocking wood furiously), and our bedtime rituals even have some glowing moments, positive ones that I hope will be the ones my boys remember with sweet wistfulness.

New research suggests a link between bedtimes and teen depression. The study finds that teens who stay up past midnight on weeknights have a higher chance of being depressed or suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime.

Photo from Amazon

Today we welcome guest Pam Allyn to share with us a short list of her favorite bedtime stories for bigger kids—ones that help guide them into good sleep with independence, imagination, and serenity.

Pam Allyn, a mom of two girls, is a children's literacy expert and advocate and the author of the inspirational and practical book for parents, teachers, and caregivers entitled What to Read When: The Books and Stories to Read with Your Child and all the Best Times to Read Them.