I didn’t expect to have to be setting a curfew this soon. My oldest is only 11 for goodness sake.  But here we are on vacation in a small community in Rhode Island with my sister and her family. My oldest and her youngest are involved in a theater camp that runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. every evening and after, they’ve been going out with their friends. Not really going out out, but more going over to their friends houses, or going to the beach or playing flash light tag. But out enough that they need to be told what time to come home.

This has posed and interesting dilemma between my sister and I. She has older children — one who is almost 20 and the other nearly 18. So for her, it’s really no big deal to send her youngest out for an evening of good, clean fun. To her, 9:30 or 10 p.m. seems like a reasonable curfew. But to me, that seems late, really late — especially since Maggie hasn’t yet learned the art of sleeping in.

But they are same-age cousins so it doesn’t seem right to make my daughter come home earlier — especially since they are out on bikes and it’s dark. There’s safety in numbers and all that.

So we’ve compromised on 9:15 for most nights. It seems to be working unless a special event — like the movie held on the beach the other night — comes up. Then there are exceptions.

But meanwhile, I’m at loose ends come around 8:30 p.m. when I’m used to getting everyone in bed and lavishing in the peace. And I miss having my little girl will me all the time.