I've been letting my 7-year-old choose his own bedtime for a month now, and it's nothing like the chaos I expected. He usually picks around 8:30 pm, barely later than our usual 8 pm, and he seems more rested because he feels in control. I know some kids would push it to midnight if given the chance, but maybe that's a signal they need more autonomy, not less. Is it really our job to enforce every rule, or should we trust kids to learn self-regulation?