So outside of sleeping in a hotel for the night, alone, away from bed-stealing kids (give me back my bed already), I've FINALLY found the secret to a good night's sleep for me.
One of our most favourite places in the world in the Rainbow Factory in Leeds, a haven for kids (and parents), it seamlessly merges EPIC fun with education, opening up new and well-loved literary worlds (and more) to kids aged 2-8.
Oh my, where to start with our time at the newly opened Rainbow Factory in Farsley, Leeds-as soppy as it sounds I find myself welling up recalling our experience there as it was like no other we've had as family, before.
We're a family of bookworms here in the Broadbent household, my Mum was a university lecturer and pretty much everyone on my Dad's side were teachers and headteachers, so the love of the written word is clearly in my DNA.
After a month of illness in this family, we finally all felt better and were in much need of a retreat, a break from the norm, not far from home to simply rest, relax and feel rejuvenated once more.
The universe must have been listening, as the wonderful Gorgeous Cottages got in touch to see if we wanted to break in a luxury holiday home, The Coach House in Yorkshire.
My kids, Oliver (4 nearly 5 and Alexander, 2) have never been the greatest of sleepers (they take after me) but sleep patterns seemed to have gotten worse towards the end of the summer with a serious lack of structure, outbreaks of tonsillitis for my toddler and a period of nightmares (my eldest and I to be honest) pre-school starting!
We were all shattered!
Fast forward to Oliver starting and settling in at school (he's so happy), a more structured routine and a few dietary changes and the boys are sleeping better than ever. So, I wanted to share what has worked for us.
